Pasco deputy bitten on thumb; Holiday man arrested

HOLIDAY — A 45-year-old man was arrested Saturday on accusations that he bit down on the thumb of a Pasco deputy who tried to pry an unidentified pill from his mouth.

Dennis James Wille of Holiday has been charged with resisting an officer with violence and tampering with evidence. He is being held in lieu of $5,000 bail.

According to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, someone called to complain about 4 p.m., saying a man was asking people at the shopping center at 2615 U.S. 19 if they wanted to buy Xanax pills. When a deputy arrived, Wille was sitting outside a Dollar General store with a black suitcase lying next to him.

Wille told the deputy he was selling VHS tapes to a dollar store next door and that the deputy could look inside the suitcase as proof. The deputy then saw a small plastic bag containing a green pill on top of the suitcase.

When the deputy picked up the pill to identify it, authorities say Wille grabbed the pill out of his hand and put it in his mouth. The deputy responded by putting his right thumb in Wille's mouth and demanding that he spit out the pill.

Wille refused to spit it out and bit down on the deputy's thumb. When the deputy removed his thumb, Wille swallowed the pill, according to a report.

Wille later told the deputy the pill was his medication for AIDS, authorities say. He was taken into custody and booked into the Pasco County jail.