A Summerfield found himself behind bars after preventing his lady friend from taking a shower and then having a nasty confrontation with her at a local gas station.
Marion County sheriff’s deputies were called to the RaceTrac gas station this past Thursday morning after an employee reported a couple involved in a loud argument. The employee said the man, later identified as 29-year-old Brandon Edward Benedetto, was yelling at the victim and shoving his phone in her face, a sheriff’s office report states.
Deputies located the couple sitting at the front bar area and observed that the woman was visibly upset, crying and trying to get away from Benedetto. They detained Benedetto and the woman said to him, “Get away from me,” the report says.
The victim told deputies that Benedetto’s brother died on Feb. 2 and he had been blaming her for his death. She said she had been attempting to take a shower at their home and Benedetto wouldn’t allow her to do so. She claimed he grabbed her upper arms and upper torso area and moved her away from the shower, the report says.
The victim said she pushed Benedetto into the shower in attempt to get away from him and he said, “I’m going to beat your face in” and other statements threatening harm to her. She said she was in fear he would follow through with the threats and said he had threatened and battered her in the past, the report says.
The victim said she drove to the RaceTrac to get away from Benedetto but he rode there with her. She said once they arrived at the gas station, he became more upset and hostile toward her and continued to make threats. She said he screamed and shoved his phone into her face as she tried to walk away from him multiple times.
After two eyewitnesses confirmed the victim’s story and Benedetto was read his rights, he denied making any threats against the woman and denied battering her. He was then placed under arrest and transported to The Centers before being booked into the Marion County Jail on Sunday night.
Benedetto, who lives on S.E. 126th Place in Summerfield, was charged with simple assault (intent to do violence) and battery. He was being held on $2,000 bond and is due in court March 3 at 1 p.m., jail records show.