An Ocala man claiming to be a “sovereign citizen” was arrested Monday morning after the mother of his children claimed he attacked and threatened to kill her.
The woman told Marion County sheriff’s deputies that she was in her vehicle with 38-year-old Tony Lee Diamond and when she pulled into her driveway, he started punching her right arm from the passenger seat and said, “I’m going to kill you to get my children back.” The woman said “she immediately feared for her life” because Diamond allegedly has become more violent since being released from prison, the report says.
Diamond, who was sentenced to serve one year and seven days in prison on March 21, 2017 in a case involving domestic battery with strangulation, was released two months later, Florida Department of Corrections records show.
The woman said she quickly exited her vehicle and ran inside her home. But before she could lock the front door, Diamond “forced it open and entered the home,” the report says, adding that he doesn’t live in the residence.
The woman said Diamond then repeatedly punched her before leaving the house on a bicycle. She said that he’s never been a resident of her home and isn’t allowed inside it.
The deputy noted that the woman had multiple bruises on the bottom of her right arm in the triceps area, as well as a large bruise on her left bicep “concurrent with getting punched numerous times in the same area.”
After a witness confirmed the woman’s story, the deputy ran a criminal background check on Diamond. It revealed three previous convictions:
- March 21, 2017 for domestic battery by strangulation in Alachua County;
- Nov. 19, 2011 for aggravated battery in Alachua County; and
- Jan. 29, 2010 for simple battery in Levy County.
A short time later, another deputy went to Diamond’s house at 4938 NW 56th Ter. He was uncooperative and claiming to be a sovereign citizen before the deputy was able to take him into custody, the report says.
Diamond was transported to the Marion County Jail and charged with domestic battery (second or subsequent offense), burglary with domestic battery and simple domestic assault (with intent to do violence). He was held on $27,000 bond on the first two charges and no bond on the simple domestic assault charge and is due to appear in a Marion County courtroom on Jan. 2 at 9 a.m. to answer to the charges.
Diamond also is no stranger to the Marion County legal system, having been housed in the Marion County Jail 19 times since May 1999. Since that time, he has faced a multitude of charges regarding driving with a suspended or revoked license, as well as DUI, probation violations, grand theft, battery, civil contempt and no valid vehicle registration.