A Lady Lake man who has previously worked as a chef in The Villages has been arrested on a warrant for allegedly hitting and choking his girlfriend over a phone call.
Deputies responded to a domestic battery at an undisclosed Marion County residence on the night of Dec. 16, 2024, according to an arrest report from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
Upon arrival, the deputies met with the complainant who advised that her mother, the victim, was battered by her live-in boyfriend, 31-year-old Austin Tyler Kennedy, who previously worked at the now-defunct Farmshed restaurant at Spanish Springs and at a local Darrell’s Diner. The victim sent her a text message that stated he started hitting and choking her before slamming her on the floor, the report said.
The deputies next met with the victim. She stated that while she was on the phone in the living room, Kennedy woke up. He came to the living room and asked her who she was talking to. She said she was talking to a friend, but he began hitting her on the back of the head, knocking her off the couch in the living room, the report said.
Kennedy grabbed the victim by the throat, causing her to become lightheaded, and took her to the bedroom. He pushed her on the bed with his hand still around her neck. He then began hitting both sides of her head, the report said.
The victim tried to get away from Kennedy and leave the room, but he placed his hand over her mouth and continued to hit her until she slid off the bed. Once on the ground, Kennedy continued to choke and hit the victim multiple times before she was able to grab her phone and call her daughter, the report said.
The deputies observed redness to the side of the victim’s face and neck. There was also redness on her left forearm, the report said.
The victim further stated Kennedy left on foot in an unknown direction prior to law enforcement’s arrival. A computer check showed he had a prior guilty conviction for touch or strike, the report said.
Kennedy was arrested Wednesday at the Stage Stop Inn, located at 5131 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Silver Springs, on a warrant charging him with domestic battery by strangulation, kidnap (false imprisonment) and battery (second or subsequent offense). He was transported to Marion County Jail to be held without bond.
He has been arrested several times in the past, including in March 2023 for unauthorized sleepovers, in February 2015 after he was caught driving with his headlights on high beams, in April 2022 for an attack that sent a woman to the hospital, and in July 2016 after a fight with his grandmother over a phone charger.