Incident reported on Oct. 13 near 200 block of South Orange Avenue
Three juvenile males and an 18-year-old man, all of Sarasota, have been arrested and charged with the aggravated battery of a 67-year-old Sarasota man, the Sarasota Police Department reported on Nov. 8.
Shortly after 2 a.m. on Oct. 13, a news release says, Sarasota Police officers responded to a report of an alleged battery near the 200 block of South Orange Avenue in downtown Sarasota. The victim reported having been attacked by four young men, who allegedly struck him with their fists and a tree branch, the release pointed out.
“One of the suspects also reportedly threw a rock at the victim, causing visible head injuries,” the release added.
The victim said that the four alleged assailants fled the scene in a white four-door car or gray SUV, the Police Department release noted.
Officers immediately canvassed the area and located a vehicle matching the description,” the release said.
During a subsequent traffic stop, officers identified the occupants of the vehicle as Ethan Craig, 17; Logan Pollard, 16; Nathan St. Onge, 15; and “Mitch Houndoras,” later identified as Adrian Zambrana, 18, the release pointed out. At the time of the stop, the release said, insufficient evidence was available to allow officers to make an arrest.
Detectives with the Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division then took over the case, the release noted. “Through an extensive investigation,” including a review of video evidence and additional interviews with the victim, the release added, “detectives confirmed details of the incident.”
Surveillance footage from Oct. 13 showed four individuals, “one appearing to carry a large tree branch, approaching the location [of the incident] on South Orange Avenue and subsequently attacking the victim,” the release continued. “The individuals in the surveillance footage were identified as the same four individuals from the early morning traffic stop,” it said.
Based on the evidence, all four suspects were arrested and charged in connection with the Oct. 13, aggravated battery incident, the release added.
The suspects and the charges are as follows:
- Ethan Craig — aggravated battery of a person 65 years of age or older
- Nathan St. Onge — aggravated battery of a person 65 years of age or older
- Logan Pollard — aggravated battery of a person 65 years of age or older
- Adrian Humberto Zambrana, of 219 Cosmopolitan Court in Sarasota — aggravated battery of a person 65 years of age or older; and false name given by person arrested or detained. (Cosmopolitan Court is south of Ringling Boulevard and east of Morrill Street in downtown Sarasota. The home address is just blocks east of the location of the alleged battery.)
A Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office Corrections Division record for Zambrana shows that he was released from jail on Nov. 1 on total bond of $35,000. The aggravated battery charge accounted for $30,000 of that bond, the record says.
The form signed by Circuit Judge Andrea McHugh, in regard to the bail she set in his case, notes that he did not possess firearms or ammunition during the alleged battery. The form orders him to refrain from any contact with the victim or the Sarasota County Schools until “he receives permission to return [to classes].”
Further, Zambrana must wear a GPS monitoring device, the expense of which he must bear, and he must not leave his home between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. daily, the form says.
“This [battery] incident remains under investigation,” the Police Department release pointed out. The agency is urging anyone with additional information to call the non-emergency line at 941-316-1199 or report the details anonymously to CrimeStoppers by calling 941-366-TIPS or going online at www.sarasotacrimestoppers.com.
More details in the Probable Cause Affidavit
The Probable Cause Affidavit for Zambrana notes that the alleged battery occurred near a parking lot located at 200 S. Orange Ave.
The victim reported that four suspects “gathered around him and began to hit him.” He added “that at one point they hit him with tree branches, and he was hit on the head with a rock,” the affidavit continues. “There was blood covering half of [the victim’s] face from the injury the rock caused,” the affidavit adds.
The victim reported that, after the attack, the suspects “ran across the street into the parking garage” and then left in a white, four-door vehicle, the affidavit says.
During officers’ search of the area, the affidavit continues, one spotted a four-door, white Hyundai Sonata, which the officer stopped. The affidavit adds that Ethan Craig was the driver, while Logan Pollard was the front passenger, and Nathan St. Onge and “Mitch Houndoras” were in the rear of the vehicle.
Video surveillance showed that the same vehicle had parked in the lot of PNC Bank at 2:01 a.m., the affidavit says. About a minute later, the four suspects exited the Sonata and walked across Ringling Boulevard to the vicinity of 200 S. Orange Ave., which is the location of the former offices of the Williams Parker law firm.
Between 2:02 a.m. and 2:04 a.m., the affidavit adds, the video showed the suspects attacking the victim. Then the suspects were seen running back to their vehicle and driving into the parking garage across from 200 S. Orange Ave., the affidavit continues.
At approximately 2:07 a.m., the affidavit says, the suspects could be seen walking out of the parking garage and standing across from 200 S. Orange Ave. Then they could be seen running back inside the parking garage. The vehicle exited the garage about 2:09 a.m., the affidavit notes.
The Police Department officer’s traffic stop of the vehicle occurred at approximately 2:14 a.m. at the intersection of Bayfront Drive and North Gulfstream Avenue, the affidavit adds.
Officers arrested Ethan Craig and Logan Pollard on Oct. 25, the affidavit notes. During an interview, it continues, Ethan confirmed that he and the other three suspects were the ones shown in the surveillance video that officers had reviewed. Ethan also reported that Zambrana had given officers a false name at the time of the traffic stop, the affidavit says.
The News Leader found no arrest records for the suspects other than Zambrana in regard to the Oct. 13 incident.
However, it did find a copy of a citation that the officer gave Ethan on Oct. 13 for violating the state law that restricts minors from operating a vehicle between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. The citation shows that Ethan was stopped at 2:11 a.m. on Oct. 13 at the intersection of Mound Street and Orange Avenue near downtown Sarasota.
Ethan was ordered to pay the $166 fine within 30 days, in accord with the law.
Further, a search of court records found that, on Jan. 8, Logan, whose address was listed as 3726 Papai Drive, was cited for being in possession of a device containing tobacco while under the age of 21. A Sarasota High School employee made the discovery, the citation added.
Papai Drive is north of Bee Ridge Road, between Honore Avenue and McIntosh Road, a map shows.