65.4 F
Ocala
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Cigarette-flicking Ocala sex offender charged with battering man and woman

Randy Scott Gruber

A 60-year-old Ocala sex offender was arrested on two counts of simple battery Saturday night after he allegedly flicked a lit cigarette into a woman’s face and pushed her,  then attacked a man who came to her rescue.

The female victim told a Marion County sheriff’s deputy that Randy Scott Gruber went walking throughout the house screaming and she went outside to confront him about it and tell him to stop. She said Gruber flicked a lit cigarette into her face and also pushed her and grabbed her neck, according to the sheriff’s office report.

The female victim said while Gruber was hitting her, the male victim came outside to stop him. She said Gruber stopped hitting her and charged at and attacked the male victim, the report said.

The male victim said Gruber had been yelling and screaming all day and went outside to continue to scream. He said the female victim went outside to confront Gruber and he flicked the lit cigarette, hitting her in the face. The male victim said Gruber started pushing and grabbing the female victim by the neck near the baby gate at the front door, according to the report.

The male victim said he went outside to stop Gruber from attacking the female victim and Gruber turned and started attacking him. He said Gruber then punched him in the face, causing a small bruise to his left cheek. The male victim said he did punch Gruber back but only in defense of himself and the female victim, the report said.

The eyewitness who reported the incident said Gruber had been yelling and screaming all day. She said she did not see the physical fight but heard an altercation while she was inside calling 911, according to the report.

After being read his Miranda warning, Gruber told the deputy, “they beat the (expletive deleted) out of me.” He said the female victim started yelling in his face while in the kitchen. Gruber said the incident never carried outside. He said the male victim attacked him and hit him in the head with a stick while the female victim stabbed and cut his thumb, the report said.

Gruber said he never became physical with either of the victims. He did not have any visible injuries on his head or face consistent with his story, but he did have a laceration on his right thumb, according to the report.

Gruber is required to register as a sex offender after a conviction on a sex offense in Los Angeles in January 1994.  He was taken to the Marion County Jail, where he is being held on $2,000 bond. Gruber will appear in Marion County Court on Nov. 17.