NPR man facing charges after fight with family, deputy

Thursday, March 29, 2007

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James Rabe is charged with carjacking, grand theft and four counts of aggravated assault.

A New Port Richey man faces numerous charges after allegedly waiving a gun at a family, stealing two vehicles and fighting with a sheriff's deputy.

Dena Michael, 20, said as she and her family, including her two year old niece, tried to pull up to a gas pump at a BP station in Holiday on Wednesday night a man pulled a 9 mm handgun on them.

"He pulled out the gun and leaned over and stuck it out the window and yelled, 'You want to cut me off?'" Michael said.

Michael called 911 and the Pasco County Sheriff's Office set up a perimeter in the Forest Hills subdivision between Cheyenne and Mile Stretch Drive. According to the sheriff's office, when a deputy spotted the man, James Rabe, the two got into an altercation and Rabe took the deputy's cruiser.

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Sheriff's office spokesman Kevin Doll said a sergeant tried to stop Rabe and was dragged about 15 to 20 feet and received minor injuries.

Doll says Rabe drove the deputy's cruiser a few miles before abandoning it to steal a truck and head into New Port Richey on U.S. 19. Deputies stopped the truck near Trouble Creek Road after putting stop sticks in the road, but they say Rabe still wouldn't go down without a fight.

"He tried to flee," Doll said. "But they Tasered him and took him into custody."

Rabe, 30, is charged with carjacking, grand theft and four counts of aggravated assault. According to the New Port Richey Police Department, Rabe was arrested in January 2005 for exposing himself to young girls.

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