An Ocklawaha man was arrested after allegedly punching his girlfriend’s daughter because she “snitched” on him for drinking.
Law enforcement got two calls about an alleged battery involving 49-year-old William Alan Graham at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to an arrest report from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
The first was from a juvenile girl claiming her mother’s boyfriend, Graham, punched her. She left their shared residence of six years and was down the road at a friend’s house waiting for deputies. The second was from Graham himself, who stated the daughter told on him to her mother about his drinking, causing an argument wherein she hit him in the face, the report said.
A deputy later met with the daughter in the same area as the alleged battery. She explained that she saw Graham drinking Coronas with a neighbor. Since he was a recovering alcoholic, she called her mother and told her what was happening. Her mother came home about 10 minutes later and started arguing with Graham, the report said.
The daughter was across the street at the time and walked over for personal items. When she went back outside, Graham became angry with her and asked, “Why did you snitch?” She told him he was “not allowed to be drinking,” to which he started yelling at her, the report said.
They walked away from each other only for Graham to come back, yelling and spitting in her face. She pushed his face away from hers, and he punched her. A short video taken afterward showed redness on her jaw line and ear on the right side of her face, the report said.
However, Graham advised that when he was confronting the daughter on “some things,” she “smacked” him in the face, the report said. He did not mention hitting her and added she had told other people things about him that were not true.
Witnesses who lived across the street described the daughter smacking Graham as he walked toward her. It looked like a slap, but they did not hear anything. She possibly did a “duck and run” since he went “at her,” and the witnesses ran over to remove Graham from the situation, the report said.
The neighbor who was drinking with Graham stated he saw the daughter hit Graham, to which he jumped back in, making a slapping motion with his hand. She put her hand in his face, and he “kind of pushed back.” The neighbor finished by saying Graham only pushed the daughter back, and she slapped him, the report said.
But the mother advised that Graham was “chasing” her daughter around, “getting in her face” and screaming to the point she had to get in between them twice. The second time, he got close to her daughter’s face, and she pushed him back. He punched her, and the mother told her to leave to de-escalate the situation, the report said.
Graham was determined to be the primary aggressor and arrested on charge of simple battery (domestic). The Massachusetts native was transported to Marion County Jail to be held without bond.