This story was updated to add new information.
Skye Ranch, the high-end Sarasota development where a Black teen recorded a group of white men following and harassing him after Hurricane Milton, issued a statement Thursday saying it is working with the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office's investigation of the incident that has gained national attention , and wants everyone to feel safe there.
"It is deeply important to us that everyone feels safe in the communities they call home. We are taking this matter very seriously by working diligently with the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office as their investigation is ongoing," said Taylor Morrison company statement attributed to a spokesperson.
An email from the development company also said that, despite social media comments to the contrary, no parties involved in the incident are members of the homeowners' association board of affiliated with the Skye Ranch Community Association Board of Directors.
Residents approached at the gated community by a reporter Thursday said they received notice about the alleged harassment and racial profiling on Oct. 10 from Skye Ranch's homeowners association but they didn’t have any details.
Millions have watch the videos posted on social media by Whitney Portela, the teen’s mother. They show her 18-year-old son walking in the development, where she said he was racially profiled and harassed by at least three older white men.
"The morning aftermath of Hurricane Milton, my son wanted to walk the neighborhood to talk to his girlfriend on his phone because we didn't have power so his service was bad in the house. This is what he had to deal with. Even after telling these men he lives here, they were not satisfied with his answer and continued to harass him," Portela wrote on her Facebook post along with the video on Oct. 15.
The teen began recording himself as men started to follow him and asked questions about where he lived.
In a second video, the teen stops to talk to a Sarasota County sheriff’s deputy and asks a deputy if their actions could be considered harassment.
Located about three miles east of Interstate 75 at Clark Road and Lorraine Road, Skye Ranch is a newer housing development with its own walking trails, parks and resort-style pools, where homes are listed for sale for up to $2.34 million.
Its gates were open Thursday as the development was undergoing both hurricane cleanup and construction on numerous new homes. A Sheriff’s Office vehicle was parked Thursday morning in front of The Hub, a community clubhouse and fitness center.
Inside, a manager referred a reporter to a communications person for the company, who did not return a phone call seeking more details about the incident.
Three renters in the development declined to speak Thursday on the record about the incident, saying only that they didn’t know anything other than it was being investigated by the homeowners association and the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office.
The Sheriff’s Office said in a release that detectives were “actively locating and interviewing witnesses in what appears to be an altercation involving neighbors and a male subject who was recording himself as he was walking. The Sheriff’s Office takes these matters seriously and will fully investigate any allegations of criminal activity.”
In the videos, men following the teen ask what he was doing in the neighborhood, tell him he didn’t belong and said they’d never seen him before as they followed him.
The teen told the men he was a part of the neighborhood. But the men didn’t stop following him until a sheriff's vehicle arrived.
At one point, one of them men is seen on the teen’s video getting out of a BMW as his friends warn him, saying “Steve, Steve, Steve.” Then the suspect was stopped by another man.
The NAACP has said it is working with the Sheriff’s Office in connection with the investigation. Anyone with information regarding the incident is encouraged to contact the Sheriff’s Office at 941-316-1201 or the Investigations Bureau at 941-861-4900.
Lee Rood is an investigative reporter and editor who has been the Reader's Watchdog at the Des Moines Register since 2012.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Alleged racial harassment of teen puts Sarasota County's Skye Ranch in national spotlight
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