A Villager was arrested after a day of golfing and drinking allegedly culminated in him choking his fiancée and spitting in her face.
Richard Thomas McConnell, 60, of the Village of Dabney, was taken into custody Monday night by Leesburg police.
Officers responded at about 9 p.m. to the couple’s home, where they had been living together for a year and a half. The woman told police they were supposed to get married next month, but had been fighting recently concerning her drinking habits.
According to the arrest report, McConnell came home from the golf course and both of them had been drinking. The woman was sitting outside on the lanai when McConnell began arguing with her from the back doorway about her drinking. She began recording the argument on her cellphone.
When she went inside to let the dog out, the argument escalated. The victim told police that McConnell, who stands 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 235 pounds, grabbed her by the throat with his right hand, lifted her off the ground, and threw her to the floor. She said she was unable to breathe while he had her by the throat and that he also spit in her face.
The woman retreated back to the lanai to separate herself and began texting her friends to tell them she was no longer getting married. She also took a video of herself to document the red marks and scratches on her neck.
McConnell then came out to the lanai, began arguing again, and threw her to the floor, leaving her with a bleeding scratch on her right forearm, the report said. The woman told police this was not the first time he had hit her.
When questioned by police, the Brooklyn, New York, native claimed the woman got in his face and grabbed his arm, prompting him to push her away. He also claimed she attempted to kick him from a seated position on the lanai, so he caught her leg and pulled her onto the floor.
Based on the video footage, text messages, and visible injuries to her neck, face and forearm, police determined McConnell was the primary aggressor.
He was arrested on a felony charge of domestic battery by strangulation and a misdemeanor charge of simple domestic battery. He was booked at the Lake County Jail and released after posting $3,500 bond.