A 69-year-old Dunnellon woman was arrested after she allegedly battered a man who was retrieving items he left behind when she forced him to move out of her home.
Judith Ann Mellott, of SW 88th Loop, was charged with simple battery after the incident, which happened Tuesday afternoon. The victim told a Marion County sheriff’s deputy that Mellott recently forced him to move out of the residence, and he brought two friends to assist him in picking up his personal belongings, according to the sheriff’s office report.
The victim said he opened the exterior garage door, and as he tried to enter the garage, Mellott approached him, yelling for him to leave, and shoved him two or three times. He said he backed away from the door to call 911 and Mellott closed it, the report said.
Mellott confirmed the victim’s account. She said she threw him out of the residence five days earlier. She gave him five minutes to gather all his personal belongings, and she placed whatever he didn’t take that day in the garage. Mellott said when he returned Tuesday, she didn’t want him inside “her” home, so she shoved him out of the garage. She said the victim did not touch her, according to the report.
The witnesses that the victim brought along said they saw the entire incident and confirmed the victim’s statements. One witness said when the victim was trying to enter the garage, Mellott shoved him in the chest with both hands, at which time he stepped backwards with both hands in the air, as if he was surrendering. The witness said Mellott then shoved him a second time, the report said.
Mellott was taken to the Marion County Jail. She was released Wednesday on $500 bond and is scheduled to appear in Marion County Court on Oct. 10.