A 54-year-old Summerfield man found himself behind bars Wednesday night after a woman claimed he refused to reimburse her for paying to have his vehicle towed.
The woman said Herman Gerritse had gotten upset with her because she wasn’t at his residence when he woke up. He said he “wasn’t giving anybody any money if she wasn’t going to stay with him,” a sheriff’s office report states.
The woman said Gerritse had gotten angry, shoved her with an open hand and threatened to burn his residence to the ground. She said she started to gather some of her belongings and Gerritse shoved her in the hallway but stopped when a friend could see them. The woman said Gerritse then told her and the friend to “get out of his house” before calling law enforcement, according to the report, which doesn’t specify if the victim lives with Gerritse.
The friend told sheriff’s deputies that Gerritse “got verbally aggressive and started calling the victim names.” She said Gerritse told the victim he “wasn’t giving her a dime unless she stayed with him.” She also claimed that Gerritse had gotten “physically aggressive” with the victim in the past and shoved her in the hallway a couple of times, the report says.
After being read his rights, Gerritse claimed he was in a verbal altercation but said it never became physical. He was then placed under arrest and transported to the Marion County Jail, where he was charged with battery. He was being held on $500 bond and is due in court May 4 at 9 a.m. to answer to the charge, jail records show.