When an 8-year-old lit incense, a man said he would smash him with a hammer, cops say
When a Florida man smelled incense burning, he threatened to hammer a child and then bend his fingers back, deputies say.
On Wednesday night, Scott Thomas got into an argument with an 8-year-old boy when he smelled incense burning inside their Port Richey home, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office said.
Deputies did not reveal the relationship between Thomas, 42, and the boy.
Thomas believed that the boy had lit the incense without permission. So with hammer in hand, he threatened him, saying that if he lights anything on fire inside the home he would smash his hand with the hammer and break all his fingers, deputies said.
Deputies said the boy told them that Thomas had used that threat several times.
While trying to punish the boy, Thomas grabbed the boy’s hand and “intentionally and maliciously” bent his middle and ring finger backward to the point he cried out for help, deputies said.
After deputies spoke to Thomas, they said he admitted to threatening to smash the boy’s fingers with a hammer, but said he never planned to do it. He just wanted to show the boy how serious he was.
Thomas was charged with child abuse and taken to the Land O’ Lakes Detention Center on a $5,000 bond.
This story was originally published October 24, 2019 at 12:46 PM.
%20Cropped%20(2).jpg)