A homeless man in Wildwood was arrested for battery after allegedly slapping someone at the Behavioral Treatment Center.
An officer responded to the Behavioral Health Center, located at 7330 Powell Road, regarding a physical disturbance around 9:50 p.m. Friday, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department. Upon arrival, he met with the victim and two witnesses who recounted an incident involving 20-year-old Moses Phillip Stevenson.
The victim advised that he and one of the witnesses were walking in the outside patio area of the incident location. He walked up to Stevenson to tell him not to talk negatively about him anymore, to which Stevenson stood up and said, “I really don’t wanna slap you right now.” The victim told him, “Keep my name out of your mouth,” and began walking away, the report said.
Stevenson started to follow him while yelling profanities. When the victim turned to face Stevenson, he “open hand slapped” the victim across the face. Stevenson grabbed him, put him in a headlock and tried to take him to the ground. The witnesses were able to break up the altercation at that point, the report said.
The officer then spoke with Stevenson who stated he was sitting with his friend in the outside patio. The victim suddenly “charged” at him and “pushed” him, where he “lost his balance” and fell to the ground, scraping his knee. The victim “bear hugged” him while on the ground, mentioning he had to fight back in defense.
The victim sustained a red and swollen left cheek, as well as a red mark around the left side of his neck. Stevenson had two red scrape marks on his left knee, the report said.
The first two witnesses corroborated the victim’s account of events. However, the third witness, Stevenson’s friend, had a completely different account of events than what Stevenson told law enforcement, the report said.
Probable cause was established due to the corroborating statements from the victim and the first two witnesses paired with the inconsistent statements from Stevenson and the third witness, the report said.
Stevenson was subsequently arrested and charged with battery. The New York native was transported to the Sumter County Detention Center and released after posting $100 bond.