An Ocala man who spent 10 days in jail last year after a violent struggle with a store clerk over a bottle of beer is back behind bars, this time after being caught hiding under a desk after hours at a veterinary clinic.
Mark Reginald Strozier, 45, of 4017 W. Hwy. 326, was charged with trespassing in an occupied structure and criminal mischief with property damage of between $200 and $1,000. He was previously arrested in November 2019 after getting into a struggle with a clerk over a $4.76 Natty Daddy beer.
At around 11:30 p.m. on March 18, a Marion County sheriff’s deputy responded to the Equine Medical Center of Ocala, located at 7197 W. Hwy. 326. An employee at the clinic said she was in the front office when she heard a man’s voice. She said the business was closed and she didn’t recognize the voice as belonging to another employee, according to the sheriff’s office report.
The witness said the man, later identified as Strozier, asked her if she was the police, and she replied she wasn’t. She said she believed Strozier was hiding under a desk and she left the office to call law enforcement, the report said.
The deputy entered the business, announced his presence and didn’t receive an immediate response. While waiting in the lobby for backup, the deputy heard Strozier call out from behind the front desk. The deputy announced himself again and Strozier stood up from behind a cubicle. Strozier complied with orders and was taken into custody, according to the report.
The deputy observed minor lacerations on Strozier’s forearm and hands. At first, Strozier said “they” had him surrounded and that he entered the business through a door. After being read his Miranda warning, he changed his story and said he gained access to the closed business by breaking a window, the report said.
Strozier told the deputy he had been accused of stealing something from someone earlier in the day, and that person was trying to ambush him at a place he referred to as the swamp. He said he walked to the clinic, jumped a fence and broke a window to get inside. The deputy detected the odor of alcohol on Strozier’s breath, and Strozier admitted he had smoked crack earlier in the day, according to the report.
The deputy located a broken window on the south side of the business that led into a veterinarian’s office. Strozier had removed the screen from the outside of the window before breaking the glass to get in. The window was approximately 3 x 6 feet, with an estimated value of $750, the report said.
Strozier was taken to the Marion County Jail, where he’s being held on $20,000 bond. He’ll appear in Marion County Court on April 15.