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Officers say Pasco man beat pregnant girlfriend, threatened them

 
Published July 11, 2013

NEW PORT RICHEY — Police say they pulled up just in time to see Douglas James Horace beating his pregnant girlfriend. He ran inside and emerged with a splintered piece of pool cue.

One officer pulled a gun and ordered Horace to drop the stick, which he did and was handcuffed, a New Port Richey Police report states.

His girlfriend, whose name is not listed in the report, told police the couple's fight arose Tuesday while they were being evicted from their apartment at 6606 Trichel Lane, and Horace grabbed her by the throat. Neighbors said they watched him choke and punch her.

Horace, 31, told police they had fabricated the report. An officer wrote that Horace asked him for his address so he could "finish (the officer) off." He pointed to teardrops adjacent his eyes — part of a constellation of tattoos visible in his mugshot including "Erica" scrawled in cursive at his Adam's Apple and "CUT HERE" with a dotted line just above his clavicle — and told the officer he has them because he has killed before "and ain't been caught."

He was arrested on charges of aggravated battery on a pregnant woman, battery by strangulation, kidnapping and threatening a public servant. He's been arrested eight times in Pasco County since 2006, records show, and convicted of domestic battery, petty theft and fraud.

He was in the Land O'Lakes jail Wednesday without bail.

Contact Alex Orlando at aorlando@tampabay.com or (727) 869-6247.