A Summerfield man was arrested after a Marion County sheriff’s deputy observed him threatening a woman, yelling and raising his fists at her, and blocking her from leaving a bedroom.
Michael Dale Grant, 34, was charged with battery (second or subsequent offense), kidnapping/false imprisonment, simple assault by threatening to do violence, obstructing justice by tampering in a third-degree felony proceeding, and resisting an officer without violence after the incident, which happened shortly before midnight Tuesday.
The deputy responded to the report of a domestic dispute and found the residence was surrounded by a fence with a gate secured with a padlock. He heard a man, later identified as Grant, yelling loudly and a woman crying. The deputy jumped the fence and headed towards the screaming, and he was able to see Grant and the victim through a window, according to the sheriff’s office report.
The deputy saw Grant blocking the bedroom with the victim crying and asking for him to let her out. Grant was moving side to side, blocking the victim from leaving. The deputy heard Grant yell at the victim about poisoning his dog and say, “I’m going to slit your throat,” the report said.
The deputy saw Grant leave the bedroom and moved to the rear of the house. He then saw the victim with her back to the wall and Grant appearing to be leaning against her, pinning her to the wall. Grant made a fist and raised his hands towards her in a threatening manner, according to the report.
The deputy knocked on the patio door, which was locked, and identified himself. Grant stepped away from the victim and started pacing back and forth. The deputy got the victim’s attention and called her to the back door, where she and her juvenile son exited the residence. The deputy gave Grant a verbal command to come outside, but he ignored the order, shut the sliding door and locked himself inside the house, the report said.
The victim said she was trying to leave and Grant was forcing her to stay in the house against her will. She said when he arrived at the residence, he locked the gate and told her “no one is getting out of this house.” She said while she and Grant were in the bedroom, he grabbed her by the left arm and shoulder and threw her against the closet. The deputy observed a small cut on the victim’s hand that she said she couldn’t remember how it happened, according to the report.
The victim said she was in fear when Grant threatened to cut her throat and made fists at her. She said when she was calling 911, Grant took her phone and threw it on the ground. The victim said right before the deputy knocked on the door, Grant shoved her and held her against the wall with his shoulder, the report said.
The victim gave the deputy permission to enter the house. After numerous attempts to contact Grant failed, further verbal commands were given by loudspeaker from the patrol car. Grant was warned that if he didn’t come out of the residence, a K-9 would be released, according to the report.
When Grant again failed to comply, a K-9 deputy and his canine partner entered the residence and apprehended Grant in the master bedroom. He was taken to the Marion County Jail without further incident. He refused to speak with the deputy about the incident, the report said.
A criminal history search revealed Grant had a prior battery conviction in April 2011 in Winter Park. He remained held on $17,000 bond and is due in Marion County Court on Dec. 10.
