Florida County Commissioner Caught On Camera Arguing With Woman He Paid For Sex

A Florida county commissioner was caught on camera having a vulgar argument with one of several women he is accused of paying for sex.

The newly released video shows Hernando County Commissioner Nick Nicholson, 71, fighting with Mindy Baker while driving to a methadone clinic. Another woman who Nicholson was also allegedly paying for sex was in the car, as well as a man who secretly filmed it.

In the video, Nicholson says he is mad at Baker for visiting an ex-boyfriend in prison, and he threatens to stop giving her money.

"If you’re going to see Keith you might as well get money from him because I’m not giving you another dime,” Nicholson says. They argue more and Baker tells him, “You can’t get this kind of p---y anywhere else.”

Nicholson says he wants Baker out of his house, and she in turn says she will "f-- your life up." She then starts hitting him in the car and he says he's going to call police.

“Go ahead and call the f---ing police," Baker says. “Bring them here and I will tell them what the f--- is going on, Nick." 

Baker used to live at Nicholson’s house but she moved out into an apartment he paid for, according to Hernando County Sheriff's Office reports obtained by Oxygen.com. The records describe Baker as a former stripper who lived with Nicholson for three years, trading sex for money and a place to live. He had sex with her on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. 

She moved out when another couple moved in, but Nicholson paid for her new place and still slept with her, police said.

Nicholson was arrested April 19 and charged with three counts of prostitution related offenses, including one count of running a house of prostitution. Governor Rick Scott suspended Nicholson from his job.

He is accused of paying for sex from Baker and another woman, Valerie Surette.

Surette, 30, and her husband Kendel Surette, 33, lived in Nicholson's house under the condition that he have sex with Valerie on Tuesdays and Saturdays, the documents said. Nicholson allegedly paid Valerie Surette $100 on Tuesdays and $200 on Saturdays for sex.

He also let her prostitute herself to other men, as long as she only did it in the garage or in cars. She kept an upright mattress on the wall of the garage for clients, the report said.

Neighbors complained about cars coming and going all the time, and deputies started monitoring the property around the time the video of the argument was filmed. Authorities initially suspected drug crimes, but they found out what was happening after a domestic abuse incident between the Surettes on February 21.

Kendel Surette allegedly threw a screwdriver at his wife, and he was arrested on charges of domestic battery. Deputies interviewed Nicholson during their investigation and described him as glassy-eyed. His genitals were also hanging out of his pants, according to an arrest report.

Deputies later interviewed Kendel Surette in jail and he offered to give them the video, which he filmed.

Baker and Valerie Surette, who also has worked as a stripper, told deputies they stayed with Nicholson because they were dependent on his money, the reports said.

Nicholson bailed out of jail the same day he was arrested, and his lawyer implied to the Tampa Bay Times that the case hasn't been fully understood.

"Nick has been a community leader for many years and a commissioner for many years," Nicholson’s attorney Peyton Hyslop told the newspaper. "Hopefully everybody will wait until this case plays out completely before passing judgment."

This is not the first incident where Nicholson got in trouble with a stripper. In 2015, a Florida Department of Law Enforcement report detailed a secret relationship he had with a woman named Kimberly Losurdo. Losurdo pleaded guilty to child neglect when a child she was watching ingested crack cocaine. 

Nicholson had sex with Losurdo, gave her money for food and drove her around to pay her bills. That relationship lasted from September  2012 through Christmas that year, according to the Tampa Bay Times. He stopped calling her after she was arrested. 

He apologized for his behavior but he was not charged and didn’t resign. He was reelected in 2016.

[Photo: Hernando County Sheriff's Office]