ORLANDO, Fla. — A candidate running in the special election for Orlando’s District 5 commission seat has filed a police report accusing his opponent of extortion.
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Travaris McCurdy’s campaign confirmed they filed the report with Orlando Police Monday afternoon.
McCurdy said his political opponent, Shaniqua “Shan” Rose, tried to extort him when she sent a text message asking McCurdy to drop out.
On Monday, Only Channel 9 was at a community meeting where those allegations were discussed just one day before the run-off election.
The meeting was intended to be a gathering of community leaders and was called by Rich Black, a supporter of McCurdy.
Read: Meet the candidates of the Orlando District 5 special election
Community leaders said neither candidate was invited, but when Rose made a surprise appearance, that meeting quickly unraveled.
The former Commissioner for District 5, Regina Hill, also was in attendance.
She was suspended by Governor Ron DeSantis in April after she was charged with elderly exploitation of a 96-year-old woman.
Hill’s suspension led to last month’s special election where both Travaris McCurdy and Shaniqua Rose fell short of the 50 percent needed to avoid a run-off election.
Read: Orlando’s District 5 city commissioner runoff election: What to know
The contentious meeting held Monday afternoon was called by residents to discuss the state of politics in District 5 and the future of the district.
Residents told Channel 9 that the run-off election had strayed too far from the issues in the district.
Residents expressed that instead of political attacks by the candidates, they would prefer a conversation focused on issues including housing, homelessness, and crime.
However, Monday’s meeting ultimately descended to contentious spats between residents, Regina Hill and Shan Rose.
The discussion mostly centered on text messages sent from a number that Channel 9 has confirmed was linked to Shan Rose to Travaris McCurdy.
The text message in part reads, “A concession within 24 hours could be viewed favorably and we can work positively together in the community. If not I am requesting a response to this packet within 24 hours before it goes to the media and all voters.”
Travaris McCurdy said Shan Rose sent the message to extort him.
Attached to the text are police reports dating as far back as 2004, which contain a number of allegations against McCurdy, though none of them resulted in charges.
At the meeting Monday, Rose rehashed some of the allegations from those public record documents.
“He has kicked in a black woman’s door and if it’s okay to kick in a black women’s door something is really wrong,” said Rose, referring to a police report where an ex-girlfriend of McCurdy’s alleged, he kicked in her door.
However, no charges were filed against McCurdy in that case.
McCurdy also told Channel 9 via a text message that the police report in question states the ex-girlfriend did not see him kick down a door.
According to the report provided to Channel 9, the ex-girlfriend instead saw McCurdy’s car parked near the gate of her home when she noticed the damage to the door.
“It says nothing was taken, the door just appeared to look kicked in. Never charged with any of this and never heard of this report until I advanced to the runoff,” said McCurdy in a text message to Channel 9.
At the meeting, residents asked Rose whether she sent McCurdy the message asking him to drop out.
“Did you send the text to Travaris McCurdy,” asked one resident.
“I denounce bad politics,” Rose responded while also denying any extortion allegations.
The finger-pointing lasted about 30 minutes until Rose was asked to leave the community meeting and obliged.
During the back and forth, Rose also claimed that this was “voter interference” ahead of the runoffs, which will occur on June 18.
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