An unemployed Dunnellon woman was arrested Sunday after a violent altercation with a man following a night of drinking at a relative’s house.
Marion County deputies were called to a home on SW Rainbow Lakes Boulevard on Sunday morning where a man told them that he had been in an altercation with 49-year-old Patricia Louise Marion Groom. The man told deputies that Groom had allegedly spent the night drinking at her nephew’s house and decided Sunday morning to walk to his house. He said he found her walking “in the middle of the road,” so he picked her up and brought her back to his house, a sheriff’s office report states.
The man told deputies that when they arrived, Groom tried to climb from the passenger seat into the driver’s seat. The man said he was worried about Groom driving “in her inebriated state,” so he opened the driver’s door to attempt to stop her from getting the vehicle’s keys, the report says.
At that point, the man told deputies, Groom shoved him in the chest with her feet and he pushed the side of her head away from him with his palm.
Deputies also spoke with Groom’s nephew, who said he drove to the man’s house and saw Groom punch him in the stomach and face with her fist. A young niece who lives at the man’s house also confirmed his account of what took place.
After being read her rights, Groom denied striking the man and said he hit her on the side of her head during the altercation. The deputy said he didn’t observe any injuries on Groom, “but did note the odor of alcohol emanating from her breath.”
Groom was booked into the Marion County Jail at 9:47 a.m. Sunday and charged with domestic battery. She was released Tuesday at 12:47 a.m. on $500 bond and is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 24.