A Dunnellon man was arrested Monday after a violent attack on an 85-year-old woman inside a grocery store.
Deputies quickly responded to the Winn-Dixie at 10055 S U.S. Hwy. 41 in Dunnellon and when they arrived, an eyewitness who had been checking out at one of the registers said she heard a loud bang come from the produce department and she looked up and saw 65-year-old Brent John Bronner yelling at the victim, stating “they had only come in there for one thing,” a sheriff’s office report states.
The witness claimed she saw Bronner grab the victim by the arm and back of the neck and “aggressively” pull her back to the shopping cart. The witness said a Winn-Dixie employee then got between Bronner and the victim and asked Bronner to step outside, the report says.
The employee confirmed the witness’ account of what happened and added that the victim immediately started to cry when she stepped between her and Bronner, the report says.
Deputies spoke with the store’s manager and observed video surveillance footage of the incident. The deputy then spoke with the victim, who suffers from dementia. He noted that “due to her condition she did not appear in her right state of mind to answer any questions,” the report says.
Bronner initially denied getting physical with the victim but then admitted that “all he did” was pull her by the shirt, the report says, noting that he “appeared to be highly intoxicated due to slurred speech and unable to keep (his) balance.”
Bronner was then taken into custody and transported to the Marion County Jail, where he was charged with battery on a person 65 years of age or older. He’s due in court on July 30 at 9 a.m. to answer to the charge.
Bronner is no stranger to the Marion County legal system, having been held in the jail four times since January 2014. During those arrests he’s faced charges associated with driving under the influence with property damage and driving on a permanently revoked driver’s license.