Anclote Cemetery Vandal Behind Bars, Cops Say

A 21-year-old Holiday man faces criminal charges after Pasco County deputies say he used red spray paint to draw gang symbols and words on a number of headstones at Anclote Cemetery.

The case came to light Saturday evening when the sheriff’s office was called out to the 1046 Hickory Lane cemetery to investigate the vandalism. Once there, a deputy discovered that damage to the headstones “consisted of the markers being spray painted red with some containing the word ‘blood’ or a star painted on them,” a probable cause affidavit stated. “Several of the tombstones were also knocked over and separated from the base.”

During the course of the investigation, a suspect, Michael Slagle was identified. Two witnesses came forward, the affidavit said. One told deputies he was with Slagle at the time of the vandalism. The other stated Slagle admitted to the crime.

Slagle was booked into the Pasco County Jail on a charge of injuring or removing a tomb or monument. He was being held without bond Wednesday after deputies learned the arrest violated his probation in Pinellas County.

Michael Slagle/Pasco County Sheriff’s Office