A 76-year-old Villager was arrested Tuesday afternoon after an alleged battle with a woman over their cats at their home.
Sumter County sheriff’s deputies were called to a home in the Sullivan Villas in the Village of Poinciana at about 1 p.m. where they arrested George Redford Tester on a felony charge of battery by strangulation and a misdemeanor charge of battery.
A woman told deputies that Tester had put his hands on her neck to strangle her and used a pillow to prevent her from breathing, according to an arrest report. She said she had been seated on the couch when she and Tester began arguing over their cats. She said she had called the cats “jerks,” but said Tester “misheard” her and thought she had called him a jerk. The Fresno, Calif. native “grabbed a small round pillow from the couch and placed it over her face impeding her normal breathing.”
About a half hour later, the cats knocked over their water dish. The woman attempted to clean it up, when Tester came up behind her and attempted to strangle her. She was able to free herself from his grip by ducking down. When she stood back up, he hit her in the back of the head.
Tester told deputies that he and the woman had been arguing for “quite a while.” He confirmed that when the woman called the cats “jerks,” he thought she was referring to him.
He was booked without bond at the Sumter County Detention Center.
