Crime & Safety

Brandon Woman Arrested at Occupy Tampa Street Protest

The demonstration was a response to recent arrests of Occupy members in California, according to police.

A phone call to the Tampa Police Department about a protest on the corner of North Dale Mabry Highway and West Kennedy Boulevard ended in the arrest of two Occupy Tampa members tonight.

According to a media alert, the police department received a call around 8:40 p.m. Jan. 29 from a person reporting that protesters were blocking the intersection. The caller, the release said, was concerned that protesters might get hit by passing vehicles.

When officers arrived on scene, about 50 protestors were asked to get off the street corner. Most did, but one woman refused.

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Tampa police said that Marisol Marouani of the Brandon area refused to get off the road and “was placed under arrest after a brief struggle.”

Just after the woman’s arrest, Seth Collins of Citrus Park “aggressively approached an officer with clenched fist(s) giving the appearance the officer was going to be struck.”

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Collins was arrested and charged with assault on a law enforcement officer. Marouani was charged with resisting arrest without violence.

Following their arrests, Marouani and Collins told officers that the protest was a response to recent arrests of more than 400 Occupy Oakland members in California.

The other Occupy Tampa protesters returned to Freedom Park in West Tampa without incident, police say.


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