A Villager has been ordered into anger management after a racially fueled parking conflict last year at a medical office in The Villages.
A document unsealed last week revealed the terms of a pre-trial intervention contract negotiated by an attorney representing 67-year-old Russell Bowser, of the Village of Hacienda East. Bowser had originally faced a felony charge of false imprisonment and a misdemeanor charge of battery.
The altercation began at about 12:30 p.m. March 14, 2018 when the woman pulled into a shaded parking spot at the Family Physicians Office on U.S. Hwy. 441 in The Villages, 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.
In addition to anger management, Bowser was sentenced to 20 hours of community service. However, he was given the option of “buying out” of community service at the rate of $10 per hour.
He has also been ordered to pay $990 in restitution to the woman he chased.
Bowser previously has been in the news due to a dispute with a neighbor over landscaping.
