A pregnant woman was taken to the hospital in The Villages after an alleged attack by her boyfriend.
Cedarius Augustine Stafford, 20, and his girlfriend of over two years were in their shared apartment bedroom at 11:15 a.m. Tuesday, according to an arrest report from the Lady Lake Police Department. They have a child in common, and she is currently three months pregnant with another of their children.
Still, a verbal dispute began between the two, and the girlfriend left for the living room. Stafford followed her and continued the dispute, escalating the situation into a physically violent incident. The girlfriend stated he punched her repeatedly in the head, face and stomach, before leaving the residence, the report said.
She suffered a bloody nose, as well as pain in her right shoulder and on the left side of her face. There was also blood on her pant legs that she advised came from blood dripping out of her nose. She was later taken to UF Health Spanish Plaines Hospital for treatment, the report said.
Officers later spotted a black Kia on U.S. Hwy. 27/441 at 2:45 p.m. This was the vehicle Stafford was believed to have left in prior to the police showing up, so a traffic stop was conducted in the parking lot of Dollar General, located at 312 S U.S. Hwy. 27/441. An officer approached the vehicle to see Stafford in the passenger seat, reclined so he was not visible from other vehicles, the report said.
He told law enforcement that he was acting in self-defense because the girlfriend was angry that she could not find her medication. She was acting crazy, which she had been doing since getting pregnant. She was acting aggressively and creating a disturbance by shouting, the report said.
Stafford had to “put her out of the house” due to her behavior. He denied hitting or striking her and claimed he did not know if she fell at any time because he closed the door. He did not know how her nose became bloodied and would not elaborate on how he put her out of the house, the report said.
He was subsequently arrested and charged with battery on pregnant victim (domestic). He was booked at Lake County Jail and released after posting $10,000 bond.