Marine reservist accused of attacking Greek priest

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

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Bruce is facing charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. (Slideshow)

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY (Bay News 9) -- A Marine reservist is facing charges after police said he attacked a priest visiting from Greece who he believed was a terrorist.

Police said that Lance Cpl. Jasen D. Bruce, 28, hit 29-year-old Alexios Marakis in the head with a tire iron, then chased him for three blocks.

According to reports, the incident happened when Marakis, who was visiting from Crete and speaks only limited English, got lost near a Channelside apartment complex after performing the blessing of another priest.

Police said Marakis drove into a garage and tried to ask Bruce for help, but that he was instead attacked. Bruce then called 911 during the ordeal and told the operator an Arabic man was trying to rob him, the report said.

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Bruce said he was going to take the priest into custody, police said. When officers arrived, they said Bruce told them the priest was a terrorist.

Friends of Marakis are stunned by the incident.

"I think it's sad," said Father Stavros Akrotirianokis. "This is a pious man, a very softspoken person whose life is dedicated to serving God, serving the church. What it sounds like to me he got lost and someone assaulted him."

Jeff Brown, the attorney for Bruce said that isn't what happened at all. According to Brown, Bruce was sexually attacked by the priest.

"It seems preposterous to suggest that Lance Cpl. Bruce was getting out of his vehicle, then out of nowhere, decides to take some sort of instrument and hit somebody because they looked like they were Arabic," he said. "That makes no sense."

Marakis was taken to an area hospital, where he was treated and released.

Bruce is facing charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He was released after posting $7,500 bond.

The Tampa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations has called for hate crime charges to be filed in the case.

"The apparent bias motive in this attack indicates the need for relevant hate crime charges to be brought against the alleged assailant," said CAIR-Tampa Executive Director Ramzy Kilic. "We hope this incident is not a case of backlash in response to the recent tragedy at Fort Hood in Texas."

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