Pasco authorities charge machete-wielding man after fireworks dispute

NEW PORT RICHEY — Police arrested a 28-year-old Holiday man after he was accused of grabbing a pair of machetes and chasing three people around a New Port Richey motel parking lot in a dispute over July 4th fireworks.

New Port Richey police arrested David Cengiz Telci about 4 p.m. Saturday after a guest at the River Side Inn on U.S. 19 said he saw Telci running after three people in the parking lot while carrying two machetes. Officials said the victims included a 14-year-old and two adult men staying at the motel.

The argument began when Telci yelled at the trio for igniting fireworks in the motel parking lot. Witnesses said Telci walked back to his motel room and initially walked out with a pellet gun, according to a New Port Richey police report. He then went back into his room, grabbed two machetes and began chasing after the guests in the parking lot, it said.

Telci told authorities the guests wanted to fight him, and he retrieved the two machetes to "scare them," according to a New Port Richey police report.

The trio, who said they feared for their lives, were able to escape from Telci and hide in their own room. Telci placed the machetes under the bed in his room and fled the scene before authorities found him at the intersection of Oelsner Street and Avery Road shortly after, according to a Pasco County Sheriff's Office report. Telci admitted to having both machetes in his hands when he left the room, the report stated.

He was charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a weapon. When police found him, Telci was with his wife. He has a no-contact order with her as part of a pretrial release and is now charged with violating that order.

He was being held Monday at the Land O'Lakes Detention Center in lieu of $33,500 bail. He faces several other charges from previous incidents in Pasco County, including domestic battery, aggravated battery on a pregnant woman and aggravated cruelty to animals, according to Pasco Sheriff's Office records.

Contact Samantha Schmidt at (813) 435-7308 or sschmidt@tampabay.com. Follow @schmidtsam7.