Two men were sent to the hospital and one of them ended up in jail after a fight in the lobby of the Stage Stop Resort in Silver Springs.
Jose Alberto Torres, 23, of 8900 S. U.S. Hwy. 441 in Belleview, was arrested Thursday at Ocala Regional Medical Center after being medically cleared to be taken to jail. He was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Marion County sheriff’s deputies responded to the motel, located at 5131 E Silver Springs Blvd., after both Torres and the victim were taken to the hospital. They noted several spots of blood on the floor in the lobby and on the ground outside.
The victim’s girlfriend told deputies that about 30 minutes before the incident, Torres and his brother knocked on her motel room door asking for the victim because he owed him money. Torres became irate, and the girlfriend went to the front office and called the victim because she was scared, a sheriff’s office report states.
When the victim arrived home, he went to the office to check on her and pay his rent. That’s when Torres pulled up in a vehicle, got out and approached him about the money. The victim’s girlfriend said Torres had a black baton and hit the victim in the head. In the ensuing scuffle, Torres ended up standing over the victim while punching him in the head. Torres’s brother took away the baton and left. The victim managed to retrieve his pocket knife and stab Torres, causing him to get off and leave, the report says.
The motel manager’s account of what took place matched the victim’s girlfriend’s version. He also let deputies review surveillance video, which showed Torres getting out of a black SUV with a black object in his hand that he put into his waistband. He approached the victim at the door and they walked into the office. That’s all that was visible before Torres walked out of the office after the altercation.
When interviewed at AdventHealth Ocala, the victim told deputies that Torres had previously harassed him about owing him money but that he didn’t know him and did not owe him any money. He said he was in fear of his life when he was being struck with the baton and said that’s why he retrieved his knife and stabbed Torres. The victim had a large cut on his right hand near his knuckles and a deep, 2-inch-long laceration on his head consistent with a baton strike, the report says.
Torres first told deputies that he didn’t have a baton but later said he had one but didn’t use it. He also said the victim hit him first.
Torres was taken to the Marion County Jail, where he’s being held on $10,000 bond. His next appearance in Marion County Court is set for Feb. 12.