A Dunnellon man arrested twice on battery charges last year is back in the Marion County Jail for allegedly battering an elderly woman who wouldn’t let him use her car and then trying to grab her phone so she couldn’t call law enforcement.
Steven Lee Johns, 51, was charged with domestic battery on a person 65 years of age or older and obstructing justice after the incident, which happened Nov. 13 at the residence on SW Soundview Drive where he lives with the victim. Johns was charged with battery twice in 2018, including a December domestic incident where he threatened to kill a woman and burn down her house when she told him she couldn’t keep giving him money.
The victim in the latest case told a Marion County sheriff’s deputy that Johns became irate and threw a bottle and broke a small fan. She said she told Johns, “I’m calling the police. That was your last chance,” and grabbed a phone with her left hand and called 911, according to the sheriff’s office report.
The victim said as her call was being answered, Johns grabbed her left arm around her wrist in what she believed was an attempt to take the phone form her. She said she pulled away from Johns and was able to hang on to the phone and complete the call. Johns then told her he was going to a friend’s house next door and left on foot, the report said.
The deputy observed dark purple bruising on the top of the victim’s left wrist, which she said was caused by Johns grabbing her wrist. An eyewitness to the incident confirmed the victim’s account, according to the report.
A short time later, the deputy saw Johns walking towards the residence and stopped him. Johns said there was an argument over a vehicle but there was no physical altercation. He denied putting his hands on the victim or trying to keep her from calling law enforcement, the report said.
Johns is being held on $2,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Marion County Court on Dec. 17.