An argument over barking dogs ended with the arrest of a 58-year-old Ocala man after he allegedly attacked one of his neighbors with a wooden table leg.
On Tuesday, October 7, at around 10 a.m., a Marion County Sheriff’s Office corporal responded to a home located on SW 58th Lane in Ocala in reference to an aggravated battery incident, according to the arrest report.
Upon arrival, the corporal made contact with the male victim. The report stated that blood was “streaming down (the victim’s) head and onto his face and shirt.”
According to the victim’s statement, he was walking his dogs in his front yard when they began to bark at two young children who were walking past his home. Moments later, his neighbor, identified as Eddie Eugene Gammage, allegedly ran outside and started yelling that he was “going to kill the victim for allowing his dogs to bark at (the two children).”
Gammage then allegedly walked to the victim’s front yard while “pointing and yelling at the victim,” according to the report. The victim then claimed that Gammage used his “pointing finger” to poke the victim’s right eye.
In response, the victim stated that he “slapped (Gammage) in his face as self-defense.” Gammage then allegedly went back to his home, grabbed a “wooden table leg with screws in it,” and returned to the victim’s front yard, where a physical altercation ensued.
During that altercation, Gammage allegedly struck the victim’s head and left palm with the wooden table leg.
The corporal located Gammage at his home, and he refused to answer any questions regarding the incident, according to the report.
A criminal history search of Gammage revealed that he was previously convicted of battery in Panama City in 1991. The corporal noted in the report that Gammage is also currently on felony probation for illegal littering/dumping over 500 pounds, with his probation scheduled to end on Tuesday, October 28.
Gammage was placed under arrest and booked into Marion County Jail, where he is currently being held without bond. He is being charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and violating probation.
A court date for Gammage has not been scheduled yet, according to jail records.