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Family of Florida teen file lawsuit against men accused of berating him in Sanford neighborhood

By FOX 35 News Staff
Published  July 18, 2022 5:25pm EDT
Seminole County
FOX 35 Orlando

Florida teen talks about aggressive confrontation with Sanford residents

Two Florida men were arrested after a dispute with two teenage boys over speeding in the Sanford neighborhood of Lake Forest.

LAKE MARY, Fla. - The family of a Black Florida teenager who was confronted by two white men in a gated Sanford neighborhood in June over alleged speeding – and caught on video – has filed a lawsuit against those two men.

Jermaine Jones, 16, told deputies he was inside the Lake Forest subdivision, as a guest, visiting a friend when Howard Hughes, 61, and Donald Corsi, 52, became aggressive and attacked him and a teen he was with for allegedly speeding down the street.

Video recorded by Jones showed the two men taunting and shouting at him. Jones alleged that one of the men broke a window on his car.

Both men were arrested and charged with property damage and criminal mischief. Hughes was also charged with battery, while Corsi was charged additionally with throwing a weapon into a vehicle.

Earlier this month, attorneys representing Jones and his parents, Columbus and Niko Jones, held a press conference where they announced plans to file a lawsuit against the two men. They also asked the State Attorney's Office to file harsher charges against the two men. 

"I haven’t gone back since because I don’t feel safe going back into that neighborhood, and I don’t know if I’ll be going back there anytime soon," Jones said at the most recent press conference.

RELATED: 'I haven’t gone back': Attorneys for Florida teen accosted in neighborhood want harsher charges

"I knew the reaction they wanted out of me, and I wasn’t going to give it to them. I knew how it could have went if I did give them that reaction. I just stayed calm and got everything on video," Jones told FOX 35 in an interview days after the incident.

FOX 35 News obtained security camera footage showing a white car with its tires screeching as it rounded a corner in the neighborhood several minutes before police arrived.

According to court documents, Jones' parents filed the lawsuit on Friday in Seminole County court. They are seeking at least $30,000 in damages, and have demanded a jury trial.