Special Magistrate Robert Riggio denied an appeal on July 22, 2025 by Virgil Hamm of a trespass warning issued for Tuscawilla Park at 1000 Orange Avenue.

Riggio said the city met the elements of City of Daytona Beach code sections 86-34 and 86-43 by showing Hamm was on city property before posted park hours and that the rule was made known either by signage or by police officers who had warned him earlier. The magistrate therefore refused to overturn the June 1, 2025 trespass warning, which remains in effect for one year from that date.

The city introduced a time-stamped Axon (body-worn camera) clip and a computer-aided dispatch report showing an officer told Hamm on Feb. 9, 2025 that the park did not open until 8 a.m. Officer Gaspar told the hearing — on the recorded interaction and again during the June 1 contact — that Hamm was told he “is no longer welcome to this park unless you appeal it at the police department,” and that the warning would last one year unless rescinded. City witnesses and the video material also showed a posted sign with seasonal hours inside the park and officers said additional large signs are located along the park loop.

Hamm testified he was walking two small dogs early in the morning and that he did not receive a written warning in February and could not see park-hours signage from the park entrance. He said the gate is often open and that, unlike other nearby parks, the Tuscawilla Park sign is not visible from Orange Avenue. The city acknowledged the gate is open early for maintenance staff but said officers have repeatedly received complaints about camping and narcotics at parks outside posted hours and enforce the hours to address those concerns.

Riggio weighed the competing evidence and testimony, saying Hamm had been placed on notice by the February encounter and by the posted rules and that, by returning before the posted opening time on June 1, Hamm violated the ordinance. “Based on what I have heard today, you were provided with a notice in February… I am going to deny your appeal,” Riggio said.

The magistrate noted the arrest that followed on June 5, 2025 (mentioned during the hearing) was part of a separate law-enforcement proceeding and was not considered in the June 1 appeal before him.

The magistrate’s denial leaves the June 1 trespass warning in force for one year from that date; the city indicated the warning is effective until the police department lifts it through the department’s appeal process.