Florida man, 51, is arrested ‘after sending email to news station announcing he was going to kill hotel manager who had upset his girlfriend’
- David Ashworth was arrested in Sarasota, Florida, on a felony count of written threats to kill
- Ashworth is accused of emailing and calling local news outlets, and announcing he planned to kill a hotel manager in Venice, Florida
- Ashworth, who is white, used racial slurs to describe the black hotel worker
- Ashworth complained the manager had double-charged his credit card and made his girlfriend cry
A Florida man has ended up behind bars after he threatened to kill a hotel manager who he claimed had made his girlfriend cry, according to the authorities.
David Ashworth, 51, from Sarasota, was arrested on Saturday and charged with written threats to kill, a felony.
According to a statement from the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, detectives learned over the weekend that Ashworth had contacted a local news station by phone and email, announcing that he planned to kill a hotel manager in Venice, Florida.
David Ashworth, 51, was arrested in Sarasota, Florida, on a felony count of written threats to kill for allegedly threatening violence against a hotel manager
Ashworth, who is white, used racial slurs to describe the African-American hotel employee, whom he accused of double-charging his credit card and kicking out patrons, according to the sheriff’s office.
The 51-year-old suspect wrote in his email to a Tampa news station, referring to the manager: ‘when I take him out you will say I’m the bad guy,’ according to WWSB.
Ashworth is seen in a previous mugshot from his DUI arrest in October 2018
Then Ashworth allegedly added: ‘I am taking him out next week when I say that you all don’t understand. He made my girl cry now I must make him die.’
Not satisfied with the email, the man also called the local TV station’s news tipline on Saturday, introduced himself as a lawyer and told the person who took his call: ‘you will see what I will do on the news next week.’
When deputies tracked down Ashworth in Sarasota, he allegedly confessed. His bond is set at $7,500.
Arrests records in Sarasota indicate that Ashworth was picked up in October 2018 on a DUI charge and later released on bond.