A Belleview man was arrested after a domestic altercation in which he reportedly kicked in the front door of a house, jimmied a bedroom door and strangled a woman before she pepper-sprayed him in the face.
Michael Sebastian Esteves, 29, was charged with domestic battery by strangulation after the incident, which happened shortly before 9 p.m. Wednesday after he came to the residence and the victim wouldn’t let him in.
Marion County sheriff’s deputies observed a scuff mark on the front door and saw the door frame was broken where the deadbolt enters it, which is consistent with a door that was kicked inwards. The victim said once Esteves was inside the house, she locked herself inside her bedroom she said Esteves used a putty knife to jimmy the door and enter the room, according to the sheriff’s office report.
The victim said once Esteves was inside the room, he pushed her on the bed and started to choke her, which obstructed her breathing. She said she pepper sprayed Esteves and he responded by striking her in the face. The victim had swelling on the left side of er face and red marks on the right side of her neck which was consistent with her statement, the report said.
The victim said Esteves then took the keys to a Jeep that belongs to both of them and left in it. She said he may have went to stay with a family in Sumter County, according to the report.
Sumter County sheriff’s deputies were able to contact Esteves at the address provided by the victim and Esteves agreed to be taken back to Marion County to speak with deputies there about the incident. After being read his Miranda warning, he said he went to the home to retrieve some of his belongings that he left behind when he moved out a few days earlier, the report said.
Esteves said he entered through the back door, thinking nobody was home. He said he was looking for the keys to his work van when the victim confronted him and pepper-sprayed him. Esteves said he grabbed what he thought were the keys to his van but found out they belonged to the Jeep the two of them share, according to the report.
Esteves said he tried to leave in the Jeep but the victim grabbed the keys and went back into the house. He said he followed her and “shouldered” the door open. Esteves said he grabbed the keys back from the victim and left in the Jeep. He said the victim was trying to hold onto the Jeep when he was leaving and she fell, the report said.
Based on the victim’s statement and the physical evidence supporting it, Esteves was arrested and taken to the Marion County Jail. He was released Thursday on $1,000 bond and is due to appear in Marion County Court on March 9.