A Summerfield man found himself behind bars Monday night after a lady friend claimed he choked her during their Memorial Day “get away” at an Ocala hotel.
The woman said 44-year-old Elmer Jose Velez had been upset over an issue with their roommate and she called a friend at about 4:30 a.m. to come pick her up. She said she “had a feeling” Velez was going to hurt her, a Marion County Sheriff’s Office report states.
The woman said Velez took her phone away from her after he discovered a photo on it of her juvenile daughter and her boyfriend holding each other by the arms. She said Velez became upset, called her names and told her she was a bad mother, the report says.
The woman said she tried to walk away from Velez but he followed her. She said she tried to grab her phone again to call someone to pick her up but Velez “grabbed her by the neck, lifted her and threw her on the bed.” She said he then fell on top of her and choked her, the report says.
The woman said she had difficulty breathing and it was still “hard for her to swallow on her left side of her throat and she has trouble turning her neck.” She said she Velez told her multiple times that he knew how to avoid leaving marks on her, through deputies reported seeing red marks at the center of the woman’s neck.
Multiple deputies responded to Velez’s residence in the 14600 block of SE 48th Court in Summerfield. After being read his rights, he said he was in a verbal altercation with the woman but “they did not touch each other,” the report says.
Velez was arrested and transported to the Marion County Jail, where he was charged with domestic battery by strangulation. He was being held on $1,000 bond and is due in court June 30 at 9 a.m. to answer to the charge.
