Sunlake Football Player Beaten by 3 Men

Pasco County Sheriff’s deputies are investigating the beating of a Sunlake High School football player.

Nicholas Hoffman, a senior at Sunlake, was beaten by a few men in the area of the intersection of Raintree Road and Riverstone Drive in Lutz on July 2, according to Sheriff’s Office Spokesman Kevin Doll.

Nicholas, 17, was riding on State Road 54 in his vehicle, which was driven by his girlfriend, who is 18, on State Road 54 that evening. That vehicle is a Chevy pick-up, according to the Tampa Tribune. 

A group of men in a bluish-gray  graphite-colored, four-door Chevrolet pulled up alongside them, and the occupants made some motions at the girlfriend to get her attention.

Chuck Hoffman, Nicholas's father, told the Tampa Tribune that the men were waving cell phones at her to try to get her to call them. She ignored them, but they continued, according to the Tribune.

"My son sat up out of the seat where they could see him and kind of gave them the look like, 'Hey guys, this is my girlfriend here,'" Chuck Hoffman told the Tribune.

At some point, the passengers of each vehicle, according to the Tribune, flicked coins at the opposing vehicle. When they got to the intersection of Raintree Road and Riverstone Drive, the drivers of both vehicles stopped.

That’s where a confrontation occurred, Doll said. Hoffman was beaten at the intersection by three men. 

Initial reports showed he suffered cuts and bruises, Doll said.

Deputies are investigating but don’t know who the aggressor was, he said.

Doll said Hoffman believed his attackers were part of a work crew and that an incident report said they were wearing green shirts. The Tribune says the men “wore bright yellow shirts with a company logo on the left front of the shirt and white lettering on the back."

Hoffman says there was a bat involved in the beating, but that's under investigation, Doll said.

The Tribune reports that radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge is angered by the incident and offering $500 to anyone with information leading to arrest.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Pasco County Sheriff's Office at 727-844-7711. Bubba can be emailed at show@btls.com.