An Ocala man was arrested recently after his lady friend claimed he took her purse, smashed her cell phone and hurled a rock through her vehicle’s driver’s-side window.
A Marion County sheriff’s deputy met with the woman at the Dunnellon Police Station, where she said that 29-year-old Joshua Wayne Byers had followed her there on his Honda motorcycle. She said she needed assistance in retrieving her personal belongings from their residence because of a domestic battery that occurred April 26, a sheriff’s office report states.
The victim told the deputy that Byers had locked her out of the house and she waited 30 minutes before going back inside through her son’s bedroom window. She said she was attempting to locate her belongings when Byers came out of the bedroom and pushed her to the ground. She said he then got on top of her, grabbed her by the arms, picked her up and slammed her back on the ground multiple times, the report says.
The victim said Byers then went back into his bedroom and left her in the living room, where she cried with his daughters, who were present during the attack. She said she then left the residence and stayed with her mother for the night, the report says.
The victim said she contacted Byers the next morning and tried to make arrangements to pick up her belongings but when she arrived at the residence, he had locked the gate and was in the driveway on his motorcycle. She said she didn’t feel safe so she left the residence and Byers followed her to the Dunnellon Police Station, the report says.
Byers was taken into a custody and transported to the Marion County Jail, where he was charged with domestic battery. He was released on $1,000 bond and is due in court in June 15 at 9:30 a.m., jail records show.