A Summerfield man was arrested after he allegedly went after a yard worker with a knife twice.
Jesus Abraham Lorenzo Melendez, 36, of 15011 SE 103rd Ave., was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and taken to the Marion County Jail, where marijuana was discovered in his personal effects. That resulted in a charge of possession of not more than 20 grams of marijuana.
A Marion County sheriff deputy responded to the residence Monday afternoon after Melendez’s landlord reported that he assaulted the victim with a knife. The deputy searched Melendez for the knife, which he didn’t have in his possession at the time, according to the sheriff’s office report.
Melendez told the deputy that he approached the victim, who was hired to mow the lawn, and asked why he and the other workers were there. He said the victim raised the weed whacker at him and told him to get away. Melendez said he only wanted the people off his lawn and didn’t know why they wouldn’t leave. He said he never had a knife out, the report said.
The landlord told the deputy that she hired the lawn people to clean up the lawn because she was getting warnings from the county and Melendez wouldn’t clean it, according to the report.
The victim said he was using the weed whacker when Melendez came up to him and told him to leave. He said he told Melendez he was there to clean up and to leave him alone. The victim said Melendez came at him with a fixed-blade knife and told him to leave, and that he was afraid for his life. The victim said he raised the weed whacker at Melendez and told him to get away, the report said.
The victim said he went to the trailer to get away and to get more string for the weed whacker and Melendez followed him inside. The victim said when he went back to finish his job, Melendez came at him again with the knife. He said he returned to his van to get away, and that he wanted to press charges, according to the report.
Another lawn worker, who witnessed the incident, said Melendez approached the victim with a fixed blade knife the first time and the victim raised the weed whacker in self-defense. The witness said when they returned to finish the lawn, Melendez went after the victim a second time with the knife. He said they returned to the truck and the landlord called 911, the report said.
Melendez was placed under arrest and taken to the Marion County Jail. On the way, Melendez admitted he had a knife out but said it was in self-defense when the victim raised the weed whacker at him, according to the report.
The deputy went to the jail to retrieve Melendez’s personal belongings from the trunk of his patrol vehicle. The belongings were inside a paper bag, and the deputy smelled the odor of marijuana coming from the bag. When told to let the deputy know if he had anything else on him before he entered the jail, Melendez said he had a small blunt of marijuana in his cigarette box. The deputy retrieved the blunt, conducted a field test on it and confirmed it was marijuana, the report said.
Melendez was released Tuesday on $2,500 bond. No information about a court date was available.