A Summerfield man was arrested for threatening to kill a woman over text when she would not reveal the location of his girlfriend’s rehab facility.
A deputy called a female victim regarding her being threatened by 44-year-old Dustin Llyod Viars at 7 a.m. Friday, according to an arrest report from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. She woke up to find about 30 text messages which were sent by him.
The victim lived at a residence in Summerfield, and Viars stayed in a camper behind it. She mentioned he was a drug user who was upset because she refused to tell him where his girlfriend was. His girlfriend was in a rehab facility, and the victim refused to tell him that, the report said.
Viars pleaded with the victim to tell him where his girlfriend was, but she told him that she would never tell him because she was trying to clean up her life. He offered to pay her “any amount of money” if she told him, but she continued to refuse. This made him angry, the report said.
The victim stated Viars started asking about his girlfriend’s whereabouts just days prior. On Friday, she woke up to numerous threatening messages from him. She initially described them as vague, saying, “I’m going to get you,” and cursing at her, the report said.
Later on in the day, the victim called the deputy. She reviewed all the text messages, and in one of them, Viars threatened to “kill” her. The deputy responded to her job and looked at the messages she mentioned, the report said.
The deputy read the messages which appeared to be written in an angry tone, the report said. He sent numerous texts, which the victim did not initially respond to. In one message, threatened to kill her, saying, “That’s a promise not a threat.” Another stated, “I never want to talk to you again only if your tied up then we’ll talk…I’ll get you.”
The victim feared what Viars might do because when he first approached her about his girlfriend’s whereabouts, he seemed to be on drugs and acted unstable. He came at her in a threatening manner but calmed down while continuing to ask about his girlfriend, the report said.
The deputy subsequently went to Viars’ residence where he admitted to texting the victim because he was trying to find out where his girlfriend was. He also advised that he was upset with the victim since she sold drugs to his girlfriend. He wanted to know what rehab facility she went to, the report said.
Viars confirmed his cell phone number, which was the same number the threatening messages were sent from. He stated the victim misinterpreted what he meant in the text. The deputy read him the one where he threatened to kill the victim, saying it was a threat not a promise, and he denied sending the messages. He said someone else may have used his phone, the report said.
Viars was arrested on charge of written/electronic threat to kill or cause bodily harm to another. He was transported to Marion County Jail with bond set at $5,000.