An Ocala man with two prior battery convictions was arrested Tuesday after he allegedly beat up a woman at a school bus stop.
The victim told a Marion County sheriff’s deputy that she and 27-year-old Alan Ellis Gillespie Jr. got into a verbal altercation earlier in the day over Gillespie not wanting to take a juvenile to the bus stop. The victim ended up taking the juvenile – whose relationship to Gillespie and the victim was redacted from the sheriff’s office report – to the bus stop.
The victim said after the juvenile got on the bus, Gillespie arrived at the bus stop and another argument began. She said this time it turned physical when Gillespie grabbed her hair and hit her in the face. The victim said Gillespie hit her all around her face and that he entered the vehicle through the passenger side window and pulled at her clothing as if to get her out of the car, according to the report.
The deputy observed the victim had what appeared to be bruising on her arms as well as around her hairline, and her shirt appeared to be stretched out. The victim provided a sworn written statement about the incident, the report said.
The victim’s sister said she saw the incident and said Gillespie came up to them while they were sitting in their vehicle at the bus stop. She said Gillespie tried to pull the victim’s hair through the window. The victim’s sister said at that point she got into a physical confrontation with Gillespie as she tried to defend her sister. The deputy observed she had what appeared to be bruising around the side of her head, according to the report.
The deputy contacted Gillespie at his residence, 5620 NW 2nd Place, and read him a Miranda Warning. He said he has had ongoing issues with the victim and that she is just trying to get him put in jail. He said he recently got a new job and she is trying to get him fired, the report said.
Gillespie initially said he was “jumped” by the victim and her sister, but he later changed his story to say he walked up to their vehicle and they grabbed him and started pulling at his shirt. Gillespie did not have any marks on him, according to the report.
Gillespie, who was convicted of battery in Marion County in February 2010 and again in September 2010, was charged with domestic battery (second or subsequent offense). He was taken to the Marion County Jail, where he was being held Thursday on $2,500 bond. Gillespie is scheduled to appear in Marion County Court on April 13.