A spat about an Ocala man’s allowance left his 20-year-old girlfriend behind bars Tuesday.
Ashley N. Beatham, of Ocala, was arrested after being accused of smacking her boyfriend with a broomstick. The man, who turns 36 on Friday, told an Ocala Police officer that he and Beatham, his girlfriend of three years and the mother of his two children, had been arguing about finances Monday when the altercation turned nasty, a report states.
The man told the officer that he and Beatham, who were living in an unnamed Ocala motel, had agreed that she would go back to work and he would stay home with their children. But when he asked her for spending money, she became “verbally aggressive” toward him and made numerous “belittling statements,” the report says, adding that the couple agreed to separate.
The boyfriend said he left the motel room for about two hours to allow Beatham time to gather her belongings and leave without any further issues. But when he returned, she was still in the room and she stayed the night with him and their children. And the argument started up again the next morning, the report says.
The boyfriend said the altercation got so heated that at one point Beatham struck him with a broken broom handle several times. The officer noted in the report that the boyfriend had fresh cuts on his hands that were still bleeding and a scratch mark under his right eye, the report says.
The boyfriend told the officer that the cuts were defensive wounds suffered as he tried to block the strikes from the broomstick handle. He said a sharp end-piece of the handle hit him in the face. And he added that he could feel bumps on his arms where he had been hit, the report says, adding that the boyfriend denied having EMS respond, the report says.
The boyfriend also told the officer that Beatham had left with her mother and said she was going to the hospital so she could have him arrested. But he said he didn’t get physical with her and she didn’t suffer any injuries.
After learning that the two children were in the room during the altercation, the officer called the Department of Children and Families, who advised that a report would be generated and an investigation would be conducted. The officer spoke with a witness who said that Beatham was screaming and the boyfriend remained calm. And photographs were taken of the boyfriend’s injuries and the broken broomstick with dried blood on it was collected as evidence, the report says.
Beatham was taken into custody Tuesday night and charged with simple domestic battery. She was released shortly before noon on Thursday on $500 bond and is due in Marion County Court June 13 at 8 a.m. to answer to the charge.