An Ocala man was arrested Tuesday night after a Wal-Mart customer called the Marion County Sheriff’s Office to report an attack on a disabled man.
The customer told deputies that he witnessed 75-year-old Richard MacDougall hitting the disabled man while he was sitting on the floor in the pharmacy section of the Wal-Mart, located at 9570 SW Hwy. 200. The customer said he intervened and made it clear that he was calling law enforcement for help. He got MacDougall’s license number as they quickly left the store, a sheriff’s office report states.
Deputies made contact with MacDougall a short time later at his home on SW 102nd Place. He told deputies there was an altercation but denied hitting the man who suffers from cerebral palsy, the report says.
The deputy also spoke to a woman at the home who said the disabled man had talked about being hit at Wal-Mart. That woman, whose relationship to the disabled man was redacted from the report, claimed MacDougall has hit him in the past “due to being frustrated” about his disability. She said she has told MacDougall to not hit the man, “especially while in a public place,” the report says.
The deputy also spoke with the disabled man, who at first claimed he and MacDougall “had a misunderstanding” at Wal-Mart and denied being hit. But when questioned a second time with the woman present, he said he was sitting on the floor at the store because his hip sometimes locks up due to his disability. He said MacDougall got upset about that “and then started hitting him on the shoulders.”
MacDougall, who is retired, was taken into custody and transported to the Marion County Jail, where he was charged with crimes against a disabled person without great bodily harm. He was released Wednesday night on his own recognizance and is scheduled to appear in a Marion County courtroom Oct. 16 at 9 a.m. to answer to the charge.
