An angry Ocklawaha woman was arrested early Thursday morning at the Summerfield ER after admitting to pepper spraying her man friend while he was driving in Marion County.
Marion County sheriff’s deputies were called to the Ocala Health Summerfield ER, located at 14193 S. U.S. Hwy. 441, where they spoke to 54-year-old Melissa Anne Kennedy Phegley. She said she was riding with the victim when he told her he was going to leave her and move away. She claimed he started driving erratically and she hit her face on the dashboard several times, a sheriff’s office report states.
Kennedy Phegley told deputies that she was afraid the victim was going to crash the vehicle and hurt her. She said they were forced to stop several times because the vehicle overheated. Deputies noted that Kennedy Phegley had several opportunities to separate herself from the victim but didn’t do so.
Kennedy Phegley also said she told the victim to stop the vehicle multiple times and when he wouldn’t comply, she pepper-sprayed him and then made her way to a nearby residence, the report says.
The victim told deputies that he and Kennedy Phegley were in a verbal altercation while he was driving in the area of S.E. 92nd Loop and S. U.S. Hwy. 441 in Marion County. He said Kennedy Phegley was upset because he told her he was moving away. He said she then pepper sprayed him in the face and he pushed her away from him, the report says, noting that the victim had red chemical burns on his face and arms.
Kennedy Phegley was then placed under arrest and transported to the Marion County Jail, where she was charged with domestic battery. She was released late Friday night on her own recognizance and is due in court June 15 at 9:30 a.m. to answer to the charge, jail records show.