Multiple Marion County sheriff’s deputies scrambled to a Dunnellon residence recently after receiving reports of a man kicking and pulling a woman’s hair while she was on the ground.
When deputies arrived at the home on S.W. 186th Circle, the caller said he saw 39-year-old Patrick Nicholas Waybright push the victim several times until she fell to the ground. He said Waybright drug her by her hair until she was able to flee to a neighbor’s house. He said Waybright followed the victim and he heard screaming, so he went to separate the two and saw Waybright kick her in the abdomen, a sheriff’s office report states.
Deputies spoke with the victim at a neighbor’s house and noted that she had blood on her clothing and her right eye was red and appeared to be turning a purplish color. She said she and Waybright had been arguing all day and he became aggressive toward her. She said she fell to the ground purposely to keep Waybright from taking her anywhere but he started pulling her hair to get her to stand up. She also said Waybright had been physically abusive all day but couldn’t “recall every incident where he put his hands on her,” according to the report.
After being read his rights, Waybright agreed to speak with deputies but then became “hostile and kept referring to a laceration on his hand” while claiming the victim had cut him with a knife. A deputy attempted to look at the laceration but Waybright “remained hostile” so the deputy asked him to sit back in a patrol vehicle, the report says, adding that Waybright denied all of the victim’s battery allegations.
Waybright was placed under arrest and transported to the Marion County Jail, where he was charged with battery. He was being held on $3,000 bond and is due in court March 22 at 9 a.m. to answer to the charge, jail records show.