An off-duty deputy stepped in to break up a domestic altercation Thursday afternoon on Interstate 75 in Sumter County, leading to the arrest of a Eustis man.
Sumter County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded at about 4 p.m. to a physical disturbance on northbound I-75 near Mile Marker 316 in Bushnell. When deputies arrived, they made contact with 35-year-old Marquis Jamel Love and a female victim.
Both Love and the victim were initially uncooperative with law enforcement. Love refused to speak about the incident, and the victim claimed they only had a verbal argument and nothing physical had occurred, according to the arrest report.
However, an independent witness on the scene, identified as an off-duty Pasco County Sheriff’s Office deputy, provided a very different account. The off-duty deputy told investigators he watched Love enter a vehicle where the victim was sitting, grab her, drag her out of the car, and throw her to the ground. Love then proceeded to drag the woman through the grass.
The off-duty deputy provided video surveillance of the incident, which corroborated his statements.
After being read his Miranda warnings, Love agreed to speak with the investigating deputy, though his statements were redacted from the report. Because the incident was domestic in nature and the video evidence confirmed the physical attack, Love was determined to be the primary aggressor.
He was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of domestic battery and booked at the Sumter County Detention Center. Love has been released on $3,000 bond.
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