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Ocala
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Berserk Ocala man jailed after woman claims he rammed her car with kids inside

Joshua James Hill

An Ocala man was jailed early Thursday morning after allegedly ramming his truck into a woman’s vehicle while she was trying to get away and take her children back home.

The woman told Marion County sheriff’s deputies that 37-year-old Joshua James Hill hit her vehicle several times, ran her off the road, followed her as she was trying to get away and eventually pushed her car across the lanes of traffic on U.S. 301.

The woman said she had let her two juvenile children spend the week of spring break with a person whose name was redacted from the incident report. She agreed to let them stay an extra week because of the COVID-19 pandemic and when she went to visit them, they said they wanted to go home with her. She told them to get in her vehicle and they left, the report says.

The woman said when she got to the 17800 block of N U.S. 301, she was approached by a black pickup and a white pickup. The children identified one of the men in the black pickup as someone named Sam and the white pickup was driven by Hill, the report says.

The woman said Hill pulled in front of her vehicle and slammed on his brakes, forcing her to stop. He then backed into her vehicle several times before she was able to drive around him and turn onto U.S. 301. She said Hill then got back in front of her, backed into her vehicle and pushed it across the lanes of traffic. She said Hill then exited his truck and punched the rear window of her vehicle where one of her children was sitting, the report says.

Hill claimed that he hadn’t left his residence all day because he has an infant that requires a lot of medical attention. He said he did call the Department of Children and Families because the woman left his residence without putting the children in car seats. He also at first denied driving his truck but later said he had used it to move a vehicle around his yard.

Deputies noted damage to the front end of the pickup, which included broken headlight covers and a dent in the top of the hood. The tires also were warm, which indicated it had been driven more than just around his yard. They also noted that the truck’s trailer hitch was the correct height to have caused damage to the woman’s hood, the report says.

Hill was taken into custody and transported to the Marion County Jail, where he was charged with domestic child abuse and assault with intent to commit a felony. He was being held on no bond and is due in court May 5 to answer to the charges.