An Ocala woman was arrested early Sunday morning after a violent confrontation with one of her roommates.
Marion County sheriff’s deputies were called to a home on NW 42nd Street after an argument turned physical between two women as their boyfriends tried to keep the peace. Both women claimed to have been struck by the other, with one suffering a bloody lip and the other redness on her chin, a sheriff’s office report states.
When deputies arrived, 33-year-old Rachel Marie Armstrong told them that she and another woman who live in the residence were arguing. She claimed the other woman was “in her face” and slapped her in the lip with her hand, causing a small cut that was bleeding. And she stated that her boyfriend attempted to separate them but they continued to argue back and forth in each other’s rooms and in the adjoining hallway, the report states, adding that Armstrong denied hitting the other woman.
Armstrong’s boyfriend told deputies that he saw the other woman arrive home and go into his girlfriend’s bedroom, where they began to argue. He said he went into the bedroom to keep them separated but saw the “two in each other’s faces,” the report says.
Armstrong’s boyfriend also told deputies that he stepped between the women to break up the argument. He said he didn’t see either of them strike the other but noticed the blood on Armstrong’s lip and wasn’t sure how she received the injury, the report says.
The other woman’s boyfriend told deputies he was in their room “watching their infant” with the door closed when he heard the argument. He said he came out to check on the two women and saw Armstrong’s boyfriend standing between them. He said he brought the woman into their room and Armstrong’s boyfriend took her to their room across the hall, the report says.
But Armstrong then came into the other woman’s room several times to continue the argument and eventually punched the woman in her chin, the report says.
Armstrong was taken into custody and transported to the Marion County Jail, where she was charged with battery. She was released on $1,000 bond later Sunday morning and is scheduled to appear in a Marion County courtroom on Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. to answer to the charge.
