An Ocala man who claimed a woman threw a lamp at him ended up being the one arrested for throwing it during a nasty domestic spat.
Marion County sheriff’s deputies were called Wednesday night to a residence on SW 86th Street, where Richard Mark Tan, 55, told them the victim slapped him during an argument. Tan said he started to walk out of the room and told her he was going to call the police when she threw a lamp at him that hit the wall, according to the sheriff’s office report.
Tan said the victim knocked his glasses off as he was leaving the residence. He also said she cut herself and was coached by someone else to tell deputies that he threw the lamp at her. Deputies did not observe any injuries on Tan, nor were there any marks on the wall where he claimed the lamp struck. The lamp was a solid class object that broke at the base and left fragments on the carpet, the report said.
The victim said she and Tan had been arguing and he became upset when she got out of bed to leave the room. She said Tan threw the lamp, which struck her on the face and caused minor lacerations. The deputies observed two lacerations on the victim’s nose and forehead, as well as blood drops on the carpet next to the lamp fragments, according to the report.
Due to the victim’s injuries and the evidence observed, deputies determined Tan was the one who threw the lamp. He was charged with domestic battery and taken to the Marion County Jail, where he was released Thursday on $5,000 bond. He’ll appear in Marion County Court on July 29.