A Lady Lake woman was arrested for battery after allegedly “popping” her cousin with a kitchen towel.
An officer responded to UF Health Spanish Plaines Hospital, located at 1451 El Camino Real, The Villages, for domestic violence allegations against 39-year-old Heather Marie Dennison at 8:10 p.m. Tuesday, according to an arrest report from the Lady Lake Police Department.
Upon arrival, the officer met with Dennison’s cousin who advised that she moved from Ohio with her three children to live with Dennison sometime in October once her divorce was finalized due to domestic violence. Dennison invited her to move to Florida to live with her and her husband while she worked and saved money for her own place to stay, the report said.
Living with Dennison for the first few weeks was fine until she started having outbursts where she would yell, scream and slam things down. Around Thanksgiving, her anger escalated to where she began throwing things in the house and “popping” the cousin with a kitchen towel. She explained Dennison would twist up the towel and hit her in the arms and legs while acting like it was a game, the report said.
The cousin did not find it funny and told her to stop, but she would laugh, tell her she was fine and continue to hit her with the towel. Dennison would do this when she was upset about something not being done to her standards. She would also tell the cousin she was lazy and could not do anything right when she was really upset, the report said.
No one else in the household ever saw Dennison hit her with the towel because no one else wanted to be around when she was yelling and screaming. But the most recent incident on Saturday left her with a large dark bruise on the back side of her right arm just above the elbow. She also had bruises above her left ankle and right knee from previous incidents, the report said.
The cousin became very emotional while speaking with law enforcement, saying she was afraid to go home due to Dennison’s verbal and physical abuse. She only went back there because she needed a place for her and her children to stay, the report said.
Dennison was ultimately arrested early Wednesday morning on charge of simple battery (domestic). The Ohio native was transported to Lake County Jail and released after posting $1,000 bond.