Siesta man throws urine at county employee

The owner of a Siesta Key rental property plagued with Sarasota County code violations threw a bucket of urine on a code enforcement officer this morning, according to a probable cause affadavit.

The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office has charged 44-year-old Craig Siegel with battery on a code inspector and criminal mischief for the alleged attack, which happened before 7:30 a.m. at Siegel's home on the 5100 block of Sandy Cove Avenue. Siegel and the victim have had frequent run-ins over modifications he made to a rental property on the 6500 block of Sabal Drive.

When the code enforcement officer arrived at Seigel's home to discuss ongoing code issues, Siegel snuck up behind the victim and doused him in urine, according to the report. Siegel then began filming with his cell phone before using a hose to wash part of the urine-covered stoop.

Deputies also charged Siegel, a 44-year-old chiropractor, with 19 counts of  scheme to defraud for allegedly using his illegally-modified rental property to run a scam signing contracts for a fraudulently-advertised vacation property. Siegal had turned a four-bedroom home into a 12-bedroom home without the proper permitting, for which he was issued fines in excess of $40,000.

The victims of the rental scam lost more than $53,000, according to the affadavit.