A Summerfield man was arrested Sunday after a nasty altercation with his battered lady friend over a Facebook post.
Marion County sheriff’s deputies spoke with 47-year-old Harry Christopher Kingsland, who told them that he had been in a physical altercation with a woman after she saw a post he had placed on Facebook. He said the woman had fallen against a stove during the skirmish and claimed she had scratched his chest, a sheriff’s office report states.
Deputies then spoke with the woman, who was sitting in the backyard on a log. Deputies noted that she was “clearly upset” and had a large would with swelling on her left eyebrow. They also observed bruises on her left shoulder and her right bicep, the report says.
The woman told deputies she was “worried about being in danger” from Kingsland. She said she had been trying to leave the residence because Kingsland was “verbally abusive” toward her. She claimed he comes home at night “drunk and calls her names.” She said he had become aggressive with her the previous night and thrown her against a stove, so she took her belongings to her mother’s house, the report says.
The woman also claimed that on Friday Kingsland had pulled out a .22-caliber handgun and was waving it side to side while telling her to get out of the residence. She said she was in fear for her life during the incident, the report says.
After being read his rights, Kingsland said the woman had jumped on him while he was on the couch. He said he went into the kitchen and she “bear hugged him,” so he fell to his knees to get away and she fell into the stove,” the report says, adding the woman’s injuries did not “corroborate the defendant’s statements.”
Kingsland was taken into custody and transported to the Marion County Jail, where he was charged with battery and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He was being held on $3,000 bond and is due in court Aug. 4 at 9 a.m. to answer to the charges.