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The Villages
Friday, March 29, 2024

Villager arrested after screaming woman calls 911 from his home

Joseph LaCoppola

A Villager was arrested after a screaming woman called 911 after an alleged attack at his home.

The woman dialed 911 at about 8:30 p.m. Thursday from the home of 68-year-old Joseph LaCoppola at 861 Aiken Ave. in the Village of Lynnhaven. A dispatcher reported hearing a woman screaming for help before being disconnected, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.

When deputies arrived on the scene, the woman was found sitting in her car in the driveway, “upset and crying.” She said LaCoppola had offered to allow her to stay the night. They began to argue and LaCoppola tried to forcibly remove a ring from the woman’s finger. He hit her on the right side of her face and then punched her in the stomach, the report said. The New York native pushed her toward a wall, came up behind her and put her in a rear chokehold. She was able to free herself and grabbed her phone to call 911. As she was dialing, LaCoppola pried the phone from her hands and threw it into her purse. She grabbed her purse and ran out of the house.

The woman suffered “several injuries,” the deputy noted in the arrest report. They included a two-inch skin tear laceration to her left forearm, and her left-hand middle finger had a scrape from the struggle. Both injuries were actively bleeding and required treatment from EMS personnel at the scene.

LaCoppola’s “face and forehead were covered in sweat.”

He was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of battery and a felony charge of depriving use of 911. He was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center on $2,000 bond.

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