UPDATE: 2/1/2017, 8:45 P.M. - The Sheriff’s Office offered the following statement regarding the decision not to enhance Mr. Thomas’ charge to a hate crime: According to Lt. Lakin, As the victim and arresting deputy, Deputy Croft chose to arrest Mr. Thomas for the crime of assault on a LEO. Mr. Thomas in this situation, as in others, appears to be using racial epithets while threatening the deputy however the hostility appeared to be based on his interaction as a law enforcement officer as opposed to being based upon his race. Mr. Thomas has behaved similarly during interactions with other LEO’s including my personal contact with him. Therefore he was charged appropriately.
BROOKSVILLE – A Brooksville man with a long history of violence found himself behind bars again Monday, after he assaulted a Sheriff’s Deputy during an incident on Wiscon Road.
According to reports, while investigating a trespassing complaint at 17230 Wiscon Road, Deputy Brett Croft was approached by 54-year-old Derrel Thomas in an aggressive manner who screamed “What the f**k are you here for. You need to f***ing leave.” Thomas continued screaming profanities at Croft and refused to stop placing his hands in his pockets, despite numerous commands. Thomas continued taking his hands in and out of his pockets while screaming “I’m going to kill you f***ing white boy,” which prompted Croft to place Thomas into custody.
While en route to the Hernando County Jail, Thomas said “I hate all white people for what you did to my ancestors.” Thomas went on to threaten Croft by stating “I will remember your face, next time I see you, you’re dead white boy, I will shoot you, I’m not scared, you are dead.”
Thomas is charged with simple assault on a law enforcement officer and was booked into the Hernando County Jail on one count of simple assault. Thomas posted a $1,000 bond just four hours after being booked.
Thomas was arrested three times in 2014 for aggravated assault and aggravated battery. He was also arrested in 2012 for aggravated battery. According to the Florida Department of Corrections Database, there is no record of Thomas spending any time behind bars in state prison.
According to Florida Statute 777.085: The penalty for any felony or misdemeanor shall be reclassified as provided in this subsection if the commission of such felony or misdemeanor evidences prejudice based on the race, color, ancestry, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, homeless status, mental or physical disability, or advanced age of the victim. The statute requires that any a charged be enhanced to the next level if there is evidence of prejudice while committing the offense. For instance, a second degree misdemeanor would be upgraded to first degree, a first degree misd. would increase to a 3rd degree felony and so on.
RNRF contacted the Sheriff’s Office for comment to ask why the charge against Thomas was not enhanced. We are currently waiting on a response.
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Dr. Martin Luther King , Jr. was just celebrated. Was his work on earth wasted ???
WHY CAN’T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG? Derrell Thomas is doing a disservice to EVERY african-american . Because of people like him all blacks are now being judged. How sad.
Believe me I as a white person would never judge all African American’s because of this man’s behavior. I look at it like this , he is obviously a racist and to behave like that most likely has some serious mental issues. I to just wish we could all get along. There are also white people who behave just as he did and it is an absolute disgrace to the human race. He needs to remember that officer had nothing to do with how his ancestors where treated! Slavery was an absolutely horrible thing but, this is 2017!!!!! Nothing can change what happened then, however; we can all change the here and now and we all hold the key to the future. I am not a bible thumper but, am a Christian and it clearly states “Love Thy Neighbor”. There’s a simple concept.
Don’t believe everything you read,police officers lie like everybody else,this man is a honorable discharge marine,very educated,this police officer was not in a lawful execution of a legal duty when he arrested thomas,read the florida statues on trespass,you must be the owner of property,the person that call the police was not owner of the property,and the call had nothing to do with thomas,the person that call the police told him he could leave,when that was said the officer had no legal right to remain on the property.The officer started asking people for id cards when he had know legal right to do,thomas told the officer he needs to get the off the property,thomas already have pending lawsuit against the sheriff office and the brooksville police department and the state attorney office in federal court,think about it.They are going to lose this case and another lawsuit will be filed,thomas represent himself,i’m smarted then any lawyer in this state.
Um..You are smarted then any lawyer in the state.
First, learn proper English and how write a proper sentence.
Second, do all of the readers of this news website a favor. Acquire a shovel, dig a hole and bury yourself.
White lives matter
White lives matter..,,,
The past 8 years have caused this but he just nuts. My generation never even thought about this stuff till Barack came in. Arrest him be done no need to show 1 black arrest against 80% white BLAH BLAH sick of this media propaganda. Dont forget to get your tater sauce free at participating stores. Thank you have a blessed evening.
Bet it was a white bails bondsman who posted this racist bond
THANK YOU BAROCK
$100.00 and he’s out. What a joke. This is a disgrace to our men in blue.
I’ll bet you haven’t won very many popularity polls lately either there bud!
It’s all whitey’s fault his life sucks & is a worthless loser! It’s the white man who made him a crackhead & drop out of school! & it’s all whitey’s fault he don’t have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out!! U all held him down from being a success in life! Shame , shame, shame!! He should have everything handed to him! Like free housing & food stamps ,welfare!! (Oh, he’s already getting all that) it’s not enough! U have & he don’t ! It’s not fair!! Wwaaa!! I’m sick of scum like this leaching of society!! Cut him off everything & see him whine then. LOSER!!!!
Well said.
Whenever you mix alcohol and ignorance you get plenty of Darrel Thomases out there. If you can’t handle it then dont drink it. If that police office had of shot him because of the threats then he would be wrong. At some point in your life you need to grow the HELL up.
you got to be kidding me, threaten a police officer and he’s out walking before the officer even finished his paperwork on him. the courts better start protecting our officers and get their head out their ass. pretty soon no one will want to be a cop and then we will all be in trouble. I feel sorry if anyone pulls a gun on an officer when I am around
Someone needs to tell this man we didn’t have to abolish “his ancestors”. He should be grateful
gotta have a iq over 40 to start a race war.
Clearly he has severe mental issues, so what does the system do?…turn him back on the street. Now, if he has another episode and kills someone, who gets the blame?
Thomas buddy its 2016, time to integrate into general society.
This Joker should move out of Hernando County we still have trees here. if he don’t want to get along with Whites! from the story Its clear No Lives Matter to this POS.
Since you are so bold to make a racist comment like that, What is your real name?
Why don’t u read the story again and then you tell me just who was racist first?
Its not racist they like the city
Wow just a 1000$ bond why so low someone is going to get hurt
Maybe that WAS the advanced charge. Story said NOTHING about him touching, or striking the Deputy in any way, and from my understanding, he only made verbal threats of harm. So if that’s the case…would simple assault be that advanced up charge?
Out already?? Why are these type of threats not taken more seriously and why isn’t the punishment more harsh? Next article will be that he has killed a cop. Wake up, he has already warned you, you need to listen.
He won’t be charged with the hate crime enhancer because he is black. Only white people get charged with hate crimes.
Silly rabbit, only White people are racist!
Facts about slavery:
*Slavery has existed for thousands of years and still exists today in countries like India, China and Pakistan.Estimates of up to 46 million people are enslaved today. Mauritania was the last nation to officially abolish slavery, doing so in 2007; yet 4.3% of the population still remains enslaved.Despite being illegal in every nation, slavery is still present in several forms today.
*There is not one person alive today who can directly be blamed for slavery in the USA.
*Brutal black-on-black slavery was common in Africa for thousands of years.
*Most slaves brought to America from Africa were purchased from black African slave owners.
Some independent slave merchants did in fact stage raids on unprotected African villages and kidnap and enslave Africans. Most professional slave traders, however, set up bases along the west African coast where they purchased slaves from Africans in exchange for firearms and other goods. Before the end of the seventeenth century, England, France, Denmark, Holland, and Portugal had all established slave trading posts on the west African coast. So if you want to blame anyone,blame those countries and the independent traders…and the African tribal chiefs who sold their ‘brothers and sisters’ into slavery.
*The census of 1830 lists 3,775 free Negroes who owned a total of 12,760 slaves.
*One of the first legal court-sanctioned slave owner in American history was a black tobacco farmer named Anthony Johnson.
*South Carolina’s largest Black slave holder in 1860 was a plantation owner named William Ellison.He owned 63 black slaves, making him the largest of the 171 black slaveholders in that state.
*American Indians owned thousands of black slaves.
*In 1830 there were 3,775 free black people who owned 12,740 black slaves, a ratio of roughly four slaves per free Black .
To the hateful and VERY racist gentleman featured in this article I say…
Get a life!’
Lets not forget Lincoln offered to send them back to their Tribes
They didn’t up the charge because this story is obviously a load of b.s. I can almost guarantee the officer had no legal ground to arrest and hold this man, so he found a way to make something stick. And as far as the racial epithets, I’m white and I can almost guess why.
he should GTFO.
This whole thing is wrong if that was a white guy saying i want to kill the black guy it would be a whole different story it would become a hate crime then you would see rioting and this guy is out of jail on a $100 dont know where he got that from maybe a friend HELLO there are people out there that want to kill cops and it sounds like this is one of them
My cats life matters dammit!!!!!
Don’t knock it till u try it everybody should own a slave at least once in there life