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Friday, March 29, 2024

Man nabbed at Ocala extended-stay motel after juvenile victim claims knife pulled on her

Marion County sheriff’s deputies arrested a homeless man earlier this week who was accused of pulling a knife on a juvenile.

A deputy responded to the Extended Suites motel at 5001 E Silver Springs Blvd. last Sunday and made contact with a woman who told him that 27-year-old Justin Phillip Durbin had brandished a red-handled knife. She described him as wearing an orange shirt and black athletic shorts, a sheriff’s office report states.

Marion County sheriff’s deputies arrested 27-year-old Justin Phillip Durbin earlier this week and charged him with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill after witnesses reported a knife incident at a local extended-stay motel on E Silver Springs Blvd.

The deputy then spoke with Durbin away from the motel. He said he went to a room at the inn to get some food from one of his friends who lives there. He said while he was outside the room the victim came out and started yelling at him that he was going to get attacked. And he said the manager told him to leave the motel so he pedaled away on his bicycle, heading west on E Silver Springs Blvd., the report says.

The victim said that Durbin, who denied pulling a knife, approached her on his bike and started yelling at her. She admitted to shouting “swear words” at him and said he dismounted his bike and allegedly pulled the red-handled knife on her, the report says, adding that the knife wasn’t located at the motel during the investigation.

The victim’s mother told a sheriff’s deputy that she saw Durbin, who she identified as “JD,” yelling at her daughter. The mother claimed he pulled a switchblade on her daughter. She said another witness approached Durbin and told him put down the knife or law enforcement would be called. And she said Durbin responded with, “(expletive deleted) the police,” so the witness called for help, the report says.

The juvenile’s grandmother also confirmed the story about Durbin yelling at her granddaughter. And she claimed he pulled the knife, which she documented in a written statement, the report says.

After a witness staying in the room above the incident location also confirmed the story, Durbin was arrested and transported to the Marion County Jail, where he was charged with charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill. He was being held on $4,000 bond and is due in court on June 18 at 9 a.m. to answer to the charge.