A babysitting dispute with her husband forced a wife to seek help at a local police station.
The woman showed up early Saturday morning at the Lady Lake Police Department after her husband of 15 years allegedly attacked her, leaving her with injuries which included lacerations to the head which required stitches.
The woman said she returned to their home on West Lakeview Street hours earlier to check on her husband, 49-year-old Joseph Michael O’Keefe, who was babysitting one of their grandchildren, according to an arrest report. She was concerned because he smelled of alcohol.
The woman lit up a cigarette and went to the garage to cool off. Her husband entered the garage and demanded to know why she was mad at him. They began to argue and he allegedly pushed her to the ground, causing a scrape on her elbow. She went to the home of a relative to get away from her husband. Her husband showed up and convinced her to go back home and go to sleep. However, once back at home they began arguing again and she went to the Wawa at U.S. Hwy. 27/441 and County Road 466. She waited there for a few hours, hoping her husband would go to sleep. She went home and they began arguing again.
The wife went to the couch to lie down, and he demanded the keys to their truck. She refused. He attacked her and left her with an injury which caused “bleeding down the side of her face,” the report said.
O’Keefe was arrested at his home on a charge of domestic battery. He was booked at the Lake County Jail and released after posting $10,000 bond.
