An Oxford man was arrested for battery after allegedly punching his ex-girlfriend in the parking lot of Planet Fitness during an argument.
The ex-girlfriend of 75-year-old Leland Jeffery Basey asked law enforcement to meet her at Denny’s, located at 1577 Bella Cruz Drive, The Villages, at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to an arrest report from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. She advised that Basey had busted her lip outside Planet Fitness, located at 17950 S U.S. Hwy. 441, Summerfield.
She explained that she had been living with Basey in his Hyundai Sonata in the parking lot of Planet Fitness for the past couple of weeks. They had lived together for about eight years in an intimate relationship but broke up for two years. They were now in a situation where they lived together yet were not dating, the report said.
The pair got into an argument in the Planet Fitness parking lot when Basey confronted the ex-girlfriend about cheating on him in the past. During the altercation, he punched her in the mouth and busted her lip. She then got out of his car and left on foot, the report said.
A deputy subsequently drove over to Planet Fitness and found Basey sleeping in the driver’s seat of his vehicle. After waking up and stepping outside, he stated he could not remember what the argument with his ex-girlfriend was about. He just knew she left on foot when it was done, the report said.
When asked about any injuries to her person, Basey stated she may have had a bruise on one of her biceps. The deputy brought up her busted lip, to which he claimed the temperature changes caused her lips to crack. Her injury was too severe to be from that, but he stated he did not think so and that it was not bleeding, the report said.
Basey later stated his ex-girlfriend had mental episodes due to being bipolar. She claimed she routinely made up stories and started to believe them herself. He sometimes had to hold her from hurting herself or doing anything that may hurt him. He said it was possible that she believed he put his hands on her when he was trying to hold her from hurting herself, the report said.
The Michigan native was ultimately arrested on charge of battery (domestic) and transported to Marion County Jail to be held without bond.
He was also arrested in May for smacking his ex-girlfriend’s phone out of her hand for recording an argument with a roommate.