Sarasota Duo Charged with Attempted Murder

                              NEWS RELEASE #: 17-065 - MARCH 8, 2017

The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office arrested a Sarasota duo for striking a man with their car, beating him, and leaving him severely injured in a parking lot, early Tuesday morning.

Deputies first responded to the area of Beneva Road and Bahia Vista Street in Sarasota just before 2:00 a.m., for initial reports of a vehicle crash with injuries. When they arrived, they made contact with the 39-year-old victim who suffered several lacerations to his body, a broken nose and arm. According to the victim, two men known to him pulled into a parking lot where the victim was sitting on his bicycle. The suspects struck the victim with a vehicle multiple times before both suspects exited and began beating the victim with a wooden stick. The victim provided suspect information and a description of the truck to detectives.

Tuesday afternoon around noon, Tactical Unit deputies located the suspect's truck with blood and front-end damage, in the area of Beneva Road and Ingram Avenue in Sarasota. The truck was marked with a decal advertising "Black Dog Tree Service" where both suspects are employed. Robert DeCola, DOB 06/18/80, and Charles Blair, DOB 12/01/92, were arrested and charged with Attempted Homicide. They remain in custody today without bond.

Robert DeCola_8b3fcab6b80b582556103361a449479c
Robert DeCola

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Charles Blair