Not a rerun: A second (in 20 days) Port Richey mayor is under arrest

Vice Mayor Terrence Rowe stepped in to become acting mayor after Dale Massad’s arrest. But now the acting mayor is also under arrest.

By McKenna Oxenden
Published Yesterday
Updated Just Now

PORT RICHEY — Another mayor is behind bars.

This time it’s acting mayor Terrence Rowe, 64, who was arrested Wednesday by Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents on charges of obstruction of justice, conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice and use of a two-way communication device to facilitate the commission of a crime.

FIRST MAYOR ARRESTED: Port Richey mayor ‘lucky he’s not dead’ after shots fired during FDLE arrest

Rowe was the second mayor in this town to be arrested in 20 days. He was vice mayor until the Feb. 21 arrest of Mayor Dale Massad, 68, who is accused of firing at a Pasco sheriff’s SWAT team that was arresting him on allegations that he was practicing medicine without a license in his home.

Rowe has since been released from the Pasco County Jail after posting $15,000 bail.

Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco said afterward that Massad was “lucky he’s not dead.” The sheriff called Massad a violent drug user who kept weapons in his home. Massad also had several prior run-ins with law enforcement and lost his medical license in 1992 over the death of a 3-year-old patient.

After his arrest, the state’s chief financial officer announced that he was also under investigation possible insurance fraud. Gov. Ron DeSantis also suspended him from office, which is why Rowe was acting mayor.

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https://www.tampabay.com/breaking-news/not-a-rerun-another-port-richey-mayor-arrested-20190313/