A 22-year-old Citra man charged last year with having sex with a miniature pony is back in the Marion County Jail, this time after admitting he attacked a 73-year-old woman and took her cell phone so she couldn’t call 911.
Nicholas Anthony Sardo, of NE 175th Road, was charged Tuesday with domestic battery on a person 65 years of age or older and obstructing justice by tampering with a victim in a second-degree felony proceeding. He’s being held without bond and is scheduled to appear in Marion County Court on June 11.
A neighbor who called 911 told the responding Marion County sheriff’s deputy he heard the victim screaming for help and ran to the residence, where he found the victim on the ground with Sardo. The neighbor said he heard Sardo yell “I’m going to kill you” to the victim, according to the sheriff’s office report.
Sardo told the deputy he was upset and had enough, so he attacked the victim. Sardo said he pulled the victim to the ground when she walked outside, took her phone so she couldn’t call 911, and then hit her in the knee, the report said.
The victim said Sardo became upset and she tried to get away from him. She said Sardo grabbed her phone off the kitchen table. She said she went on the back deck and Sardo pulled her to the ground, according to the report.
The victim said she screamed for help and Sardo hit her several times in the head. She said he grabbed a piece of rope and screamed, “I’m going to kill you.” The victim said she and Sardo fought over the rope and she was able to keep it away from him. She said she believes Sardo wanted to kill her and she is afraid of him, the report said.
Sardo made national headlines in November 2018 when he was accused of having sex with a miniature male pony named Jackie G. in a pasture on a family member’s property. He later pleaded not guilty to four counts of engaging in bestiality/sexual conduct with an animal.