Kevin Cichowski, Florida gubernatorial candidate hopeful arrested for beating elderly parents, threatening to kill relatives during mental health crises episode.
Might be a good idea to shelf the run… A Florida gubernatorial candidate running as a Democrat is accused of assaulting his elderly parents and threatened to kill them.
Kevin Cichowski, 46, who seeks to be nominated on the Democrat’s ticket for Florida governor was arrested on Friday after deputies with the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office were called to a home in Palm Coast following reports of an assault on the man’s relatives.
Cichowski is alleged to have hit one of the parents with a cane along with throwing a cellphone at another while in possession of a gun.
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The 911 caller, who was also a victim, told dispatch that he also threatened to kill them and stated he would kill law enforcement if they were called.
Upon arrival, deputies located two victims hiding in a bedroom and said that they could not leave the home because one of the victims was bedridden.
After evacuating the victims, deputies say they ordered Cichowski to surrender and took him into custody, mynews4 reported.
Cichowski was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of battery on a person over 65, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, tampering with a witness, and two counts of robbery by sudden snatching.
Mental health crises leads to physical altercation involving parents and Florida governor hopeful
The arrest which was captured on bodycam footage shows Cichowski telling officers that his father had suffered a mental health episode and was trying to kill him and that the parent ‘was ready to kill him’, with Cichowski repeating, ‘I haven’t done anything wrong,’ and ‘this is insane.’
While being transported to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility, Cichowski made suicidal statements and was placed into protective custody under the Baker Act.
‘When responding to a situation where a suspect has a weapon and has threatened to kill the victims and law enforcement, it’s critical that we do everything we can to safely de-escalate the situation and quickly rescue the victims from immediate danger,’ said Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly. ‘I commend our deputies, RTCC analysts, and the 911 dispatchers for working together for a safe resolution and arrest the suspect before the situation escalated to a violent ending.’
Records indicate that Cichowski is being held at the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Jail without bail. His arraignment hearing is scheduled for May 5.
Cichowski previously ran for Palm Coast mayor in 2021. He is one of dozens of candidates in the running to replace Governor Ron DeSantis (a Republican). The Democratic primary is scheduled for August 18.
Come Monday, the would be Florida Governor’s campaign appeared to be down. Do you suppose…?
