Two men spent time in the Marion County Jail last week after an altercation that was captured on a cell phone video.
James Mackey, 49, of Ocala, and Willie County III, 37, of Plant City, were both charged with battery after the incident, which happened April 15 at the Carlton Arms of Ocala apartments on SW 20th Street. Ocala Police responded to the scene and observed and heard Mackey and County arguing. County was highly agitated, screaming loudly, and was taken to be interviewed by officers, according to the OPD report.
After interviews with both men and several witnesses, it was determined that County shares a daughter with a woman who lives at the location with her mother and Mackey, who is her mother’s boyfriend. The child’s mother left the home the previous day after an argument with Mackey. When she and County returned to pick up the child, Mackey didn’t want County to enter the apartment and County tried to force his way in, according to the report.
The altercation was caught on camera by a witness, and it showed Mackey blocking County’s way in a stairwell and what appeared to be both men pushing, swinging at, and wrestling with one another from inside the residence to outside the front door. At one point, County had Mackey in a headlock and was yelling, “Oh yeah, oh yeah (expletive deleted),” according to the report.
Witness accounts included statements about Mackey pushing County and the child’s mother before they stepped inside the residence. However, an employee of the apartment complex said County approached the residence aggressively with his cell phone recording, according to the report.
Mackey and County were taken the Marion County Jail, where both were released on $1,000 bond. County is scheduled to appear in Marion County Court on May 13, while a court date has not yet been set for Mackey.