A 29-year-old Ocala man with a lengthy rap sheet is being held without bond in the Marion Count Jail after he allegedly hit his former girlfriend with a stand-up fan during a nasty domestic altercation.
Terrance Lamar Roberts, who is listed as homeless, was charged early Monday with simple domestic battery and with violating his felony probation for a previous conviction for possession of a controlled substance. Jail records show Roberts has 18 previous arrests since 2008.
The victim told an Ocala Police officer that she and Roberts ended a three-year intimate relationship in June and they have a child together. She said Roberts asked to come over and visit her and the child and she agreed, according to the police report.
The victim said Roberts arrived at around 11 p.m. Sunday and appeared to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The victim said while they were talking, Roberts became aggressive and started to raise his voice, so she asked him to leave. She said she called 911 after he refused to leave, the report said.
The victim said while she was on the phone with a 911 operator, Roberts grabbed a white stand-up fan and started to walk away. She said when she asked him to return it, he became angry and turned around and hit her in the head with it. The victim said Roberts then began to fight with her in the bathroom, where he hit and shoved her, according to the report.
The victim said she fought back by throwing punches and was able to separate herself from Roberts. Once he left, she locked the door and waited for police to respond. The officer observed redness and irritation near the top of the victim’s forehead near her scalp. She also had a long thin laceration on the left hand of her scalp that was bleeding, the report said.
The officer also observed a smaller black fan lying on the ground just outside the front door of the apartment, as well as a larger white fan that was broken into several large pieces inside the apartment, according to the report.
The victim said Roberts frequents the Queen Gardens Resort Motel, 3340 S. Pine Avenue, and might be there. Officers responded to the motel and apprehended him, the report said.
In an interview at the jail, Roberts said while he was at the victim’s residence, she started texting with another man that she was possibly dating. He said he felt disrespected that the victim would invite him over and then start texting another man while he was still there, according to the report.
Roberts said he and the victim got into a verbal argument and he decided to leave, but not without taking a fan that belonged to him from the apartment. He said he took the fan and was leaving when the victim grabbed the cord and tried to pull the fan away from him. Roberts said as he and the victim were pulling the fan back and forth, it broke and part of the fan struck her in the face, cutting him on the inside of his lip. The officer observed a small thin cut inside Roberts’ mouth, the report said.
The officer determined that probable cause existed for Roberts’ arrest due to the victim’s visible injuries that were consistent with her statement. It was determined that although Roberts had a visible injury, his statement was not consistent, according to the report.
Roberts is scheduled to appear in Marion County Jail on Nov. 7.