A Silver Springs man is in jail after he reportedly slapped a deputy in the face, breaking his glasses, while being arrested on a domestic battery charge.
Robert Laurence Dawson II, 37, was also charged with battery on an officer and resisting an officer without violence. The incident apparently happened at a motel, but the location was redacted in the Marion County Sheriff’s Office report.
The deputy responded to the incident location at around 9:55 p.m. Sunday and met with the victim, who said she and Dawson had been arguing all day and Dawson keeps yelling at her over a Mother’s Day card. She said Dawson didn’t hit her, according to the report.
The witness who reported the incident told the deputy he was near his truck in the parking lot less than 30 yards away from Dawson’s room when he saw Dawson push the victim through the open door into the room. The witness said once the couple was inside the room, he continued to hear screaming and things hitting the wall, the report said.
Another witness said she was sitting outside her room smoking a cigarette when she saw Dawson and the victim arguing outside their room. She said she saw Dawson push the victim towards the room, but she couldn’t hear what was going on once they were inside, according to the report.
The deputy asked the victim again if Dawson had pushed her and she still said he didn’t hit her. She allowed the deputy inside the room to speak with Dawson, the report said.
Dawson was laying on a bed inside the room. When the deputy started reading his Miranda warning, Dawson put his index fingers in his ears and said, “I’m not talking.” Asked if he understood his rights and wanted to speak about the incident, Dawson refused to answer, according to the report.
Dawson refused multiple commands to get up off the bed. When the deputy reached out to grab Dawson’s wrist to place him under arrest, Dawson pulled away and started to twist and turn on the bed while yelling and screaming, the report said.
Dawson pulled his wrist from the deputy’s grip and then slapped the deputy across the right side of his face, knocking his eyeglasses off and causing them to break. He continued resisting by rolling onto the floor and bracing himself with his arms and legs between the two beds, according to the report.
Other deputies helped handcuff Dawson, who continued to yell and scream and not listen to commands. The deputy’s body camera was knocked from his chest during the altercation. Dawson still wouldn’t stand up and walk on his own power to the patrol car, so deputies had to drag him and put him in the vehicle, the report said.
Dawson was taken to the Marion County Jail, where he was being held Wednesday on $4,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in Marion County Court on June 9.