A Broward County man with a bright political future has allegedly been hiding a dark, bloody secret.
Rupert Tarsey, 28, was recently elected to the Broward Republican Executive Committee (BREC) as secretary, according to the Sunshine State News. But the rising star and married father of two – with another on the way – has been identified as Rubert Ditsworth, a former Los Angeles resident who was charged in 2007 with the savage hammer attack of a classmate at an exclusive prep school, according to the Daily Mail.
While a source told Sunshine State News that Tarsey “came highly recommended by a well-known, well respected attorney, state committeeman and former chairman,” no one knew the young man was using his mother’s maiden name and that, just a few years before, he was known as Rupert Ditsworth – and Ditsworth has a criminal past.
A Los Angeles Times article from 2007 reported that 17-year-old Ditsworth (shown in photo) was the prime suspect in the beating of 18-year-old classmate Elizabeth Barcay. Ditsworth was charged with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly beating Barcay with a claw hammer.
The beating left Barcay with a broken leg and broken nose. Ditsworth was treated at a psychiatric hospital before ultimately pleading no contest to a misdemeanor charge. He was never convicted of a felony.
“‘In the end, I pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor,” Tarsey told the Daily Mail. “It’s not the charges that matter, it’s what happens in court.”
Tarsey claims the current controversy is simply fueled by politics and says he will not resign.
“Why should I resign?” he told the the Daily Mail. “I did nothing wrong and I was elected. This is just party politics.”
Republican Party of Florida Chair Blaise Ingoglia told the Sunshine State News, “It’s a local party issue. If the people who elected him didn’t have all the information about him when he was elected, then certainly they should be made aware.
“If we have to drain the swamp, that’s what we’ll do.”
Feature photo: Broward County Sheriff
