A 66-year-old Villages softball player is facing felony charges of assault and battery after he allegedly threatened a fellow Villager with a baseball bat when tempers flared on a golf cart path.
Robert “Mike” Arseneau, who lives on Bermudez Court in the Haciendas of Mission Hills, is accused of threatening a man over the age of 65 and striking his golf cart with the bat, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff‘s Office.
At the time of the incident on Sept. 11, Arseneau was wearing a logo that deputies were later able to connect to a Villages softball team.
A week after the incident, Arseneau opted to turn himself in at the Sumter County Sheriff‘s Annex.
On the day of the incident, Arseneau was in his silver gas-powered Yamaha  coming out of a tunnel at Mariposa Way and Morse Boulevard. Arseneau was turning out of the tunnel when the victim blew his horn and informed Arseneau that he had just run a stop sign, the arrest report indicates.
Arseneau then slammed on his brakes, got out of his cart, grabbed the victim by the arm and tried to pull him out of his golf cart. Arseneau returned to his cart, retrieved a baseball bat and, after taking a batting stance, threatened to hit the other Villager in the head. Arseneau then allegedly hit the man’s golf cart with the bat.
The victim then drove to the Sheriff’s Annex to report the incident. He said his attacker had a logo on his clothing similar to that of the Detroit Redwings.
Tracing the logo to a local softball team, a deputy initially made contact with Arseneau by phone. He said he would like to personally apologize to the other man and make restitution for any damage done to the golf cart.
On Friday, Sept. 18, Arseneau was arrested on charges of assault on a person over the age of 65, battery on a person over the age of 65, and criminal mischief with damage to property.
He was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center on $8,000 bond.
