An Ocala man was arrested last week after he allegedly beat a woman unconscious, strangled her, held her against her will and waved a loaded gun during a violent incident that he says started when she called him an insulting name in Spanish.
Augusto Cesar Sanchez Gonzalez, 38, was charged with domestic battery by strangulation, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, kidnapping/false imprisonment, and aggravated battery causing bodily harm.
A Marion County sheriff’s deputy responded Thursday to an address on SW 40th Circle, where the victim had been taken by an eyewitness after the incident. The victim was in the back of a vehicle, drifting in and out of consciousness but still breathing, according to the sheriff’s office report.
The victim’s left cheek below her eye was swollen with green and light purple bruising. She had redness and a two-inch long scratch on the left side of her neck. Because of the way she was positioned in the vehicle, the deputy was unable to observe the right side of the victim’s body before she was taken to the hospital by Marion County Fire Rescue, the report said.
The deputy spoke with the victim’s juvenile son, who said he was inside the family residence when he heard a loud thud and screams coming from a bedroom. He said when he approached the room, the door was open and he saw Sanchez Gonzalez and the victim yelling at each other, according to the report.
The victim’s son said Sanchez Gonzalez was holding a desert tan-colored semiautomatic handgun back and forth with the muzzle pointed down. He said he was afraid Sanchez Gonzalez would shoot the victim. The victim’s son said he asked Sanchez Gonzalez to give the firearm to him, and Sanchez Gonzalez unloaded the firearm and handed it to a juvenile female witness, who hid the weapon, the report said.
The victim’s son said Sanchez Gonzalez then struck the victim several times. He said he was not present for the entire incident. The victim’s son appeared to be holding back tears while telling what happened, as his eyes were watery and he looked down several times, according to the report.
A male eyewitness who, along with his girlfriend, rescued the victim said when he arrived at the scene, he saw the victim on the ground with Sanchez Gonzalez’s knees on her chest and hands around her neck. He said the victim was screaming she couldn’t breathe and it appeared Sanchez Gonzalez was choking her, the report said.
The witness said he pulled Sanchez Gonzalez off the victim and tried to calm him down. He said Sanchez Gonzalez tried to attack the victim several times while he was trying to hold him back, according to the report.
A female witness said when she arrived at the location, the victim had a large knot under her left eye. She said she tried several times to get the victim to leave, but the victim repeatedly said Sanchez Gonzalez would kill her if she left, the report said.
The witness said she finally convinced the victim to leave and the victim tried to run to her vehicle. She said as the victim was running to the car, Sanchez Gonzalez caught her and slammed her to the ground and struck her face numerous times. She said once Sanchez Gonzalez stopped striking the victim, she and the male witness were able to take the victim away and call 911, according to the report.
A juvenile female witness, who was in her bedroom at the time of the incident, said she heard a loud thud followed by a scream. She said she looked into a bedroom and saw Sanchez Gonzalez throw the victim into the wall and a verbal altercation between the two. The witness said she asked Sanchez Gonzalez for the firearm, which he unladed and gave to her. She said she did not see the firearm before asking for it and she asked for it because she was afraid the situation would escalate, the report said.
The juvenile female witness said the incident became physical again, with Sanchez Gonzalez punching and slapping the victim all over her face and body. She said she hid the weapon outside the residence and called the other witnesses for help. The juvenile female witness was extremely distraught and having a panic attack, according to the report.
A deputy responded to the hospital, where he was able to speak briefly with the victim, who was in and out of consciousness. The victim said when she arrived at the residence, Sanchez Gonzalez confronted her and brandished a handgun and pointed it at her face, saying he would kill her, the report said.
The victim said her son and daughter tried get Sanchez Gonzalez off her, and Sanchez Gonzalez gave the gun to her daughter. She said Sanchez Gonzalez struck her in the face and body. The victim said she tried to run away, but Sanchez Gonzalez caught her in the living room. She said he pinned her to the ground and repeatedly struck her on the left side of her face with his right hand, according to the report.
The victim said while Sanchez Gonzalez had her pinned to the ground, he also choked her to the point she could not breathe. She said a male witness was able to get Sanchez Gonzalez off her, but Sanchez Gonzalez caught her outside the residence and attacked her again. The victim was visibly scared while talking to the deputy and said Sanchez Gonzalez would kill her, the report said.
Sanchez Gonzalez was interviewed at the sheriff’s department’s Marion Oaks Office. Speaking through a translator, he said the victim was upset about a phone call and called him a “cabron,” which he said is very disrespectful in his culture, according to the report.
Sanchez Gonzalez said he was so infuriated by the insult that he lost control and struck the victim on the left side of her face, which caused her to be “knocked out.” He said when the victim regained consciousness, she again called him a “cabron,” causing him to strike her another time on the let side of her body near her rib cage. Sanchez Gonzalez said the victim then left the residence and he left shortly after because he was scared of what would happen to him, the report said.
Sanchez Gonzalez was placed under arrest and taken to the Marion County Jail, where he was released Saturday on $22,000 bond. He will appear in Marion County Court on Sept. 22.