A Villager has been arrested in an attack on a woman over a parking spot at a doctor’s office.
The woman ran frantically into an “Employees Only” entrance at Family Physicians Office on U.S. Hwy. 441 in The Villages as she was being chased by 66-year-old Russell Bowser of 1208 San Juan Drive.
The altercation began at about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday when the woman pulled into a shaded parking spot at the physicians office, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. Bowser apparently had wanted to park in the same spot.
He immediately became “confrontational.” He banged on the woman’s driver’s side window and demanded that she move her vehicle. She attempted to climb out of the passenger side, but Bowser moved to that side of the vehicle to prevent her from getting out. She had her left leg out, but Bowser, who is six feet two inches tall and weighs 300 pounds, pushed the door closed on her leg. After four to five minutes, she escaped and ran into the doctor’s office. Bowser chased her while yelling profanities and racial slurs, including the “N” word.
Witnesses on the scene verified the woman’s account.
Bowser admitted to deputies that several times he told the woman he would not let her out of her car until she moved from the parking spot.
He was arrested on a felony charge of false imprisonment and a misdemeanor charge of battery. He was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center on $6,000 bond. Bowser bonded out at 1:45 p.m. Thursday.
Bowser previously has been in the news due to a dispute with a neighbor over landscaping. He has made several appeals to the Community Development District 1 Board of Supervisors.
