Florida Man Charged With Hate Crime After Harassing Gay Neighbors, Threatening To Eat Cat With Teriyaki Sauce
It doesn’t get much more Florida than this.
Via Leesburg-News:
A Leesburg man has been charged with a hate crime after allegedly tormenting his gay neighbors.
The neighbors of 57-year-old Frank Norviel have been subjected to harassment due to their sexual orientation for several months, according to an arrest report from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
The ongoing dispute between the neighbors on Marlette Avenue came to a head Tuesday night when he ended up in a bloody attack on a deputy who had to use a taser to subdue him.
The neighbors said Norviel would ride his bicycle in front of their house and call them “queers” and “faggots” on a daily basis. He would stand at the fence line of their adjoining properties and scream foul language at them. Earlier this month, he told one of the men’s son that he was going to “kill his cat and eat it with teriyaki sauce.”
The neighbors obtained an injunction ordering Norviel to stay 10 feet away and refrain from any comments or actions aimed at them.
On Jan. 6 the neighbors contacted law enforcement to report a violation of the injunction. A deputy met with the men and was shown a security video of Norviel hanging a pair of soiled blue underwear on a pole over their car. They also had a security video showing a white cross which Norviel had placed on their fence. When the deputies attempted to speak to Norviel, he hid in his house to avoid arrest.
More details on the violent arrest and Norviel’s history at the link (he was previously convicted of a 2021 felony for smashing another neighbor’s car windows). He’s being held on a $113,000 bond and was charged with the hate crime of aggravated stalking, violation of an injunction for protection, resisting a law enforcement officer with violence, battery to a law enforcement officer, and resisting arrest.
Another report from a different local news outlet has more from the affidavit, including the allegation that Norviel harassed the gay family’s child by telling them to “shut up” when asked to not hurt their cat. Norviel then “suggested they perform sex acts on their parent like they trained you to do,” the affidavit states. Norviel is also said to have screamed, “It’s not Adam and Steve!” at the victims while repeatedly squeaking a rubber chicken in his yard.
