A competency evaluation has been ordered for a Villager who threw a fit over his utility bill and was arrested at Lake Sumter Landing.
Last week in Sumter County Court, Judge Paul Militello ordered the evaluation of the mental status of 60-year-old Charles Kasner of the Village of Dunedin.
Kasner was arrested Sept. 8 after he went to the customer service office above Starbucks and “demanded” an employee remove his late fees for his water bill that was past due, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.
When deputies arrived on the scene, Kasner was “using his foot as a door stop and was actively yelling at the employee that was attempting to shut the door” at the customer service office. A deputy tried to calm Kasner down and persuade him to walk away. However, Kasner continued to raise his voice and “cause a commotion,” the report said.
Kasner, who last year filed to run for the Sumter County Commission but later withdrew from the race, was attracting a crowd due to his antics. He began shouting profanities at those who were watching his outburst. It got so bad “a group of ladies eating lunch at a table nearby” gathered their belongings and went inside, the report said. Kasner’s bizarre behavior included a threat to kill himself. Due to the suicidal threat, EMS was summoned to the scene.
The emergency crew’s arrival appeared to fuel Kasner’s outburst. The deputy wrote in the arrest report that Kasner “was going to continue to cause a scene and was intentionally doing so in an attempt to get his utility bill to be lowered by the employees that were standing outside the building.”
When Kasner was informed he was being placed under arrest, he refused to put his hands behind his back and pulled away from deputies. The deputies, with assistance from an EMT, took Kasner to the ground. “After a brief struggle,” they successfully handcuffed the Montreal native and placed him in the back of a patrol car.
He remains free on $1,250 bond.
