Florida Criminal Attorney Blog
Cross dressing isn’t a crime, but violating probation can be. Tampabay.com is reporting that Dade City Police Department arrested a 44-year-old man dressed in a black tank top and blue denim skirt Sunday morning after he tried to run from police.
According to the report, a patrol car was making a U-turn on U.S. 301 when they spotted what appeared to be a woman standing behind an abandoned business. When officers shined their spotlight toward the back of the business, and the person took off running into the woods.
The officer and a police dog soon found a man in the woods changing out of the tank top and skirt into a button-down shirt and tan shorts, the report said. After being detained, the man said that he wasn’t a prostitute, and that dressing in woman’s clothing is something he does in his spare time. He ran because he didn’t want to get arrested in women’s clothing.
The man had an open Hernando County warrant for violating his probation on a charge of driving with a suspended or revoked license was also arrested that night by the Dade City police for resisting arrest without violence.
Both of these crimes are misdemeanors which means that the cross dresser could be subject to two years in jail–one year for the violation of probation and another for the resisting and officer without violence charge. Generally, a violation of probation subjects a defendant to the maximum penalty they could receive on the underlying charge. Courts are reluctant to impose jail time for violations that involve failure to pay fines or court fees and are more likely to impose jail or prison sentences on violations that involve new charges.
The attorneys at Whittel & Melton, LLC handle Hernando County misdemeanor and felony violations of probation. If you have been arrested, please contact us for a consultation on your case.