An Ocala man was arrested after allegedly scuffling with a woman and trying to take her cell phone because he said she was videoing him illegally.
William Scott Wheeler, 39, of 7675 SW 10th St., was charged with domestic battery after the incident, which happened at his home on Thursday afternoon.
The victim told a Marion County sheriff’s deputy she went to Wheeler’s residence because her two children were there. She said she hadn’t heard from Wheeler and his phone was turned off. The victim said when she arrived, Wheeler didn’t come to the door at first. She said he eventually came out and said he was sleeping, then went back inside, according to the sheriff’s office report.
The victim said she went to the porch because she had called law enforcement to assist her with the custody dispute and was going to wait for the deputy to arrive. She said while she was sitting on the porch, she was recording the incident with her cell phone in case anything occurred, the report said.
The victim said Wheeler came out of the residence and started trying to take the cell phone out of her hands by grabbing her wrists. She said she put the phone behind her back, and Wheeler reached around and continued trying to grab it. The victim said Wheeler was on top of her and was trying to push her towards the railing of the porch. She said she had to kick and punch Wheeler multiple times to get away from him and return to her vehicle, according to the report.
The victim said she recorded the incident on two phones – the one she had in her hand and another one she had recording in her vehicle. The victim couldn’t get the video on the phone she was carrying to play, but she showed the deputy the recording from her vehicle, the report said.
On the video, the deputy saw Wheeler exit the residence and talk to the victim on the porch before he suddenly lashed towards her with his arms extended. He could then hear the victim screaming but couldn’t see exactly what was happening because the area was too dark to see. The deputy then saw the victim running away from the porch and towards her vehicle, while Wheeler went back inside the residence, according to the report.
Wheeler told the deputy he had been asleep and wasn’t expecting the victim to show up at that time. He said he observed the victim recording him with her cell phone didn’t want her illegally recording him, so he tried to grab the phone from her. He said the victim put the phone behind her back and he reached behind her to get it because she was still recording him. The deputy observed a small laceration on Wheeler’s left forehead area, the report said.
The victim showed the deputy a bruise on her write wrist area that she said was from Wheeler grabbing her wrist and trying to take the phone from her. Wheeler was arrested and taken to the Marion County Jail, where he was released Saturday on $500 bond. He’s scheduled to appear in Marion County Court on July 30.