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TREASURE ISLAND, Fla. (WFLA) — An Indian Rocks Beach resident has been charged with extortion and stalking after hand-delivering threatening notes to the Treasure Island city commissioners, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said.
Duncan Andrew Small, 33, is accused of dropping the letters off at each commissioner’s home.
“Because of that, you have to go to sleep at night with protection on your nightstand. It is just completely unbelievable that this comes along with being a commissioner in this small town. To me, it’s just really, really, really sad,” Commissioner Chris Clark, who represents Isle of Palms, said.
Small and an accomplice dropped off the letters at all four homes sometime around 12:30 am on July 21st, according to police.
The letter stated: “We know where you all live, quit f***ing with the Drum Circle.”
“If anyone ever comes in my home, tries to hurt me or my family, as per Florida law, I will stand my ground. I can guarantee you that absolutely,” Clark said.
The Treasure Island Police Department told News Channel 8 that a few months ago, local law enforcement asked the city to look into new policies regarding the Drum Circle, a popular live music event hosted on Sundays at the beach.
“We’ve been having a lot of city ordinance violations associated with the drum circle. The crowds got very large, and they were smoking on the beach, dogs on the beach, open drug usage. We started to have some sexual assaults out there,” Treasure Island Police Chief John Barkley said.
Since that meeting, the police department claims that a cooperative effort from organizers and law enforcement has helped clean up the weekly event. Despite this, they say that threatening any local leader will not be tolerated.
“It was absolutely a threat. Especially when you’re telling us in this letter, we know where you live. I don’t know how that could be received as anything other than a threat,” Barkley said.
TIPD says they believe Small had an accomplice, who was captured on video surveillance. That person is still at large.