An Ocala man is behind bars after allegedly strangling an elderly woman who at first claimed he didn’t batter her.
John Phillip Collie, 67, was charged with domestic battery by strangulation and domestic battery on a person 65 years of age or older after the incident, which happened late Thursday evening at his home on SE 35th Court.
A Marion County sheriff’s deputy responded to a report of a woman who was having trouble breathing. EMS workers told the deputy the victim, who is 66 years old, had made statements about being strangled. When asked about that, the victim said she didn’t want to get Collie arrested and became very vague in describing the incident. She said she and Collie were only in a verbal altercation, according to the sheriff’s office report.
Pressed further, the victim said she and Collie were in an argument when he slapped her on the left side of her face, kicked her in the left leg and then placed his hands around her neck and squeezed. She said Collie made the statement, “I’m going to kill you,” before loosening his grip and going to a neighbor’s residence, the report said.
The victim said her air flow was constricted, which caused her to have trouble breathing. The deputy observed redness around the victim’s neck but did not see any marks or redness on her face, according to the report.
Collie said he and the victim were only in a verbal altercation and declined to say anything else. He was taken to the Marion County Jail, where he remains on $5,000 bond and awaits a July 9 date in Marion County Court.