PCSO
Police arrested a Madeira Beach man Jan. 26 on witness tampering and resisting arrest charges after allegedly trying to get two persons “to erase surveillance video that may have captured the defendant committing the offense of discharging (a) firearm within close proximity of occupied residences”, according to police.
Jerry Rodger Batchelor, 52, also faces a resisting arrest charge for allegedly disobeying police orders to return to his residence, walking into the path of a Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office K9 and refusing to sit in the patrol vehicle when detained, according to charging documents.
PCSO deputies said they also had “surveillance video containing footage of the defendant with (a) rifle and intimidating the victims into destroying video of the defendant committing an offense,” according to an arrest report.
The incident occurred near Gulf Boulevard and 131st Avenue in Madeira Beach.
A spokesperson for PCSO said the agency dispatched deputies to the area at 11:20 p.m. Jan. 25 after reports of shots fired. There were no injuries related to the alleged gunfire, according to the spokesperson.
Police arrested Batchelor early Jan. 26; he later bonded out of jail. He does not yet have legal counsel, according to court records.
