Commission addresses death threat concerns

By John Labriola - The fallout from Citrus County Commission candidate Jennifer Grogan's report of a death threat to the sheriff's office last month spilled over into Tuesday's commission meeting, with commissioners saying they may ask Sheriff David Vincent to publicly address the issue after Grogan and other residents brought it up at the meeting.

Grogan, who owns a small business and helps run a Christian ministry, received a call from an unidentifed number on July 27 from someone claiming to be the police. She was told she had to come to the sheriff's office to pay a $5,000 fine or go to jail, but when she arrived, the caller made a death threat.

Grogan immediately asked to speak with a sheriff's deputy. She sat down with Deputy Daylon Rogers, who took her report. In the video of their interaction, which can be found HERE, Grogan tells the deputy that the caller told her "we just got you out of the house to kill you," to which Rogers responds, "There's no one here ever going to tell you that we got you out of the house to kill you."

But Rogers' incident report contains no reference to the death threat. Instead, he calls the incident an "everyday thing" and adds that he gave Grogan the advice of blocking the blocked number. 

At Tuesday's commission meeting, Grogan told commissioners she has requested a meeting with the sheriff, "but have been denied as of now."

Other citizens said the commission needs to invite the sheriff to explain what went wrong, including why the deputy decided not to report the death threat and whether a procedure exists to handle such threats.

Joe Papp of Crystal River said the commission should hold the sheriff accountable and that "a public apology needs to happen."

"That deputy had no right to judge [Grogan's] character and then dismiss it," Papp said. "What would happen if one of you guys got a death threat?"

Another resident asked why the deputy didn't try to trace the phone call.

Commissioner Rebecca Bays said she'd be willing to have the sheriff discuss the issue at a commission meeting but added that the commission, which funds the sheriff's office, has no direct control over his department.

"I have no problem asking the sheriff to come in and address this, but just for the record, the Board of County Commissioners has no authority over the sheriff," she said, adding that the matter also could be referred to the Internal Affairs division of the sheriff's office or the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. 

"That would be the level where you would need to escalate this," she said.

Commissioner Diana Finegan also addressed the issue, saying she planned to review the police report and the video.

Meanwhile, the Citrus County Chronicle, which on Saturday ran a front-page story ridiculing Grogan and falsely claiming she lied about reporting a death threat, doubled down on Aug. 12. Super-sleazy editor Jim Gouvellis not only repeated the newspaper's lie that "there was no mention in the records or video of someone actually trying to lure her outside, kill her or target her for political reasons," but he had the gall to add that the paper's dishonest hit piece "is how fairness works."

No, Jim, it's how you kill a dying paper. The Chronicle has already been forced to stop home delivery and cut back from seven days a week to just five on your watch, and subscriptions continue to plummet because you have nothing but contempt for the truth and for the audience you're supposed to serve.