A Summerfield man found himself behind bars Sunday night after a mobile home dweller claimed he tried to hit him with a baseball bat outside his residence.
The victim told a Belleview police officer that when he came home from fishing, he saw someone in a vehicle parked outside his residence in the 6200 block of S.E. Hames Road. He said he parked his bicycle and a man later identified as 47-year-old Thomas David Bean and his wife got out of their silver Ford and asked him if he knew where their son was, a police report states.
The victim said he told the man he didn’t know where his son was. He said the man identified him by his first name, became upset and accused him of doing drugs with his son. He said the man then got a baseball bat out of his vehicle and started coming at him with it raised in the air, the report says.
The victim said he was afraid Bean was going to hit him with the bat so he ran away from him. He said Bean then walked back to his vehicle before coming at him with the bat a second time as his wife tried to get him to stop, the report says.
The victim said he got the vehicle’s license tag number as Bean and his wife drove away. He also told the officer that he noticed several marks on his front door that weren’t there before. He reiterated that he had never seen Bean before and didn’t know who he was.
A neighbor told the officer that he was inside his mobile home when he heard loud banging noises outside. He said he saw the victim ride past him on his bicycle and then heard arguing. He said he saw Bean walking with the baseball bat raised in the air “as if he was trying to hit the victim,” the report says.
After running the tag number provided by the victim, officers went to Bean’s residence at 3633 S.E. 139th St. in Summerfield and spotted the silver Ford parked in his yard. An officer also noted that a baseball bat was on the front passenger seat of the vehicle.
Bean told the officers he went to the victim’s residence looking for his son, who he claimed was using methamphetamine. He said he hasn’t been able to speak with his son for several days and was told that he was at the victim’s residence, the report says.
Bean said when he arrived at the victim’s home, he banged on the door with his hand but no one answered. He said he was walking back to his vehicle when the victim rode up on his bicycle. He said he and he his wife asked the victim where his son was and was told he wasn’t there. He claimed the victim and another man started to approach him so he and his wife got into their vehicle and left, the report says, adding that Bean never mentioned a baseball bat.
After being read his rights, he denied taking anything out of his car when speaking with the victim. Officers told Bean what the victim had said about a baseball bat and he “kept advising he was just trying to find his son.” He said he was worried about his wife when the two men approached them but he didn’t mention a baseball bat.
When asked about the bat inside his vehicle, Bean said he had removed it from the trunk because he thought the victim was going after his wife. The officer asked him why he told him earlier that he hadn’t removed anything from his vehicle and he said he was “just trying to find his son,” the report says.
Bean was placed under arrest and transported to the Marion County Jail, where he was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill. He was released early Monday morning on $2,000 bond and his next court date hasn’t yet been set, jail records show.