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Ocala
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Ocala man charged with battering pregnant lady friend over cigarettes

Michael Allen James Kuhlman

An Ocala man is accused of slapping a pregnant lady friend and grabbing her by the hair during an argument over cigarettes.

Michael Allen James Kuhlman, 25, who is listed as homeless, was charged with aggravated battery of a pregnant victim after the incident, which happened recently at 333 NW 3rd Avenue. The victim, who is pregnant with another man’s child, told an Ocala Police officer she and Kuhlman have dated on and off for about 11 years.

The officer responded at around 9:40 a.m. to the report of a man, later identified as Kuhlman, making suicidal statements with a knife. Kuhlman told the officer he didn’t have any suicidal thoughts, but he had been in an altercation with his girlfriend of three weeks and broke the relationship off. He said he had knife but didn’t want it anymore and threw it on the ground. The officer determined Kuhlman did not meet Baker Act criteria, according to the police report.

The victim said she and Kuhlman got into an argument about cigarettes when he suddenly became enraged and smacked her right breast. She said she grabbed Kuhlman’s hair in self-defense and he grabbed her by the hair and started pulling her down. The victim said she slapped Kuhlman twice in self-defense to get him to let go and was able to escape the situation, the report said.

An independent witness, who was sitting in a chair nearby and witnessed the entire incident. He said Kuhlman pulled a folding pocketknife out of his pocket and threatened to harm himself. The witness said Kuhlman then threw away the knife, grabbed the victim by the back of the hair and started pulling her around the area voluntarily, according to the report.

The victim’s brother corroborated the witness’ story and added that Kuhlman spat in his face when he intervened. This claim was later found to be unfounded as the victim said he never became involved in the altercation, the report said.

In a second interview, Kuhlman said he was in a verbal alteration with the victim when she slapped him. He said e slapped her back as a “get back game.” Asked if he grabbed her hair, he said he did but was trying to untangle her hair. Kuhlman said he has known the victim was pregnant with another man’s child for the entire month of March, according to the report.

Neither Kuhlman nor the victim had any injuries or complaints of pain. The knife was recovered after Kuhlman led officers to its location, the report said.

Kuhlman was taken to the Marion County Jail, where he was released the next day on his own recognizance. He’s due to appear in Marion County Court on April 28.