Man Drags Relatives With Car In Meadow Pointe

It’s not unusual to hear about family members getting angry at one another from time-to-time. However, dragging relatives down the street while they’re hanging from a vehicle is definitely a lot less common.

According to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO), Patrick Anthony Spinozzi, 58, of Northtown, PA, was arrested just after 4:30 p.m. on February 27 at Chatterly Dr. and Meadow Pointe Blvd. in Wesley Chapel for aggravated assault.

PCSO reports that Spinozzi and two unidentified blood relatives have been in town working on a home improvement project on a home in the Wrencrest neighborhood of Meadow Pointe for the past several weeks. The report says that, on the day of the offense, Spinozzi became irritated with his relatives and was planning to leave the residence when he got into a verbal argument with one of them. At the same time, Spinozzi’s other relative was packing the vehicle and heard the vehicle start, but continued packing. 

Once done packing, the relative was standing in front of the vehicle, at which point Spinozzi put the vehicle in drive and intentionally took his foot off the brake and narrowly missed the victim. He then put the vehicle in reverse and then back into drive and maneuvered the vehicle directly into the path of his relative, who pushed off the hood and held onto the accelerating vehicle for fear of falling off and getting injured.

PCSO says the other relative saw what happened and ran up to grab onto the passenger side of the vehicle and begged Spinozzi to stop. Instead, Spinozzi drove into a neighboring yard and narrowly missed hitting another parked vehicle. At that point, the first relative let go of Spinozzi’s vehicle and landed in the grass.

Spinozzi continued to drive through the neighborhood with his other relative still holding onto the vehicle. PCSO reports that Spinozzi then nearly hit a light pole and a second vehicle. Just before Spinozzi swerved to miss the second vehicle, the relative let go and landed on that vehicle. Spinozzi kept driving, while his relative lay on the ground pleading for help. The relative suffered upper body injuries, but refused treatment by medical personnel. In total, Spinozzi drove about a tenth of a mile.

PCSO reports that Spinozzi was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated assault because he intentionally and unlawfully threatened and acted violently with a deadly weapon toward both of his relatives and created a “well-founded fear” in them. Spinozzi also performed the violent acts with a, “fully-formed conscious intent to commit battery upon both victims,” the report says. Spinozzi also was charged with possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. He was released on a $12,000 bond.