A 21-year-old Ocala man was arrested last week after a woman told her friend he battered her.
Stephen Shane Knechtel Jr., of SE 60th Avenue, was charged with simple battery. A friend of the victim, who reported the incident, told a Marion County sheriff’s deputy she received a call from the victim saying she had been battered by Knechtel, according to the sheriff’s office report.
The victim’s friend said it is an ongoing issue, but this time the victim asked her to come and get her because Knechtel “put hands on her.” The victim was reluctant to say what happened but said she and Knechtel had been arguing and the altercation became physical. The victim said she called her friend to confide in her and Knechtel pushed her by the neck to get the phone. The victim’s friend said she could hear the victim telling Knechtel to stop, the report said.
The victim’s friend said the victim showed her a bruise on her right arm, and the deputy asked to see it. The deputy observed a small, quarter-size bruise on the victim’s arm. When asked how it got there, the victim said Knechtel caused the injury on Friday. She refused to go into details about that incident and declined medical treatment, according to the report.
Contacted at his residence, Knechtel denied touching the victim but confirmed he was at her home and they were involved in a verbal disturbance. Knechtel was taken to the Marion County Jail, where he was released Wednesday on $500 bond. He’s due in Marion County Court on Dec. 27.