Unruly residents kept deputies busy during holiday weekend
BROOKSVILLE –
A bear hug Friday night kicked off a turbulent weekend for local law enforcement.
The ensuing 72 hours included multiple 911 calls and more than a dozen arrests related to disorderly behavior or domestic violence.
The person who administered the bear hug didn’t appear to be doing it out of affection. He brought the man to the ground and pinned him to the dirt while a man and woman kicked him repeatedly in the head and body, according to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies were called shortly before 10 p.m. and arrested the couple on battery charges. David Wayne Harris Sr., 47, and Patricia Ann Harris, 45, both of 9387 Lakefront Road in Brooksville, were booked at the Hernando County Jail.
The suspect who pinned the victim has not been identified, but the investigation remains open, said Cpl. Wendy McGinnis, a sheriff’s spokeswoman.
The battered man suffered cuts to his face and back, deputies said.
Ninety minutes later came another battery call. This time it involved a desperate husband pleading with his wife not to leave him – but to make his case he grabbed her by the arms and shook her, according to an arrest affidavit.
Alton Terrance Paulsson, 26, of 2194 Danforth Road in Spring Hill, was charged with domestic battery.
The calls kept coming during the remainder of the weekend.
“It is very difficult to predict or manage domestic violence calls,” said Col. Mike Maurer, the second-in-command at the sheriff’s office. “Some have speculated in the past that long periods of cold weather, which forces folks inside, cause an increase. The same goes for holiday weekends when there’s an increase in drinking. In my years, nothing is concrete in predicting these crimes.”
Deputies arrested Emory Lane Winchell, 27, of 3535 Portillo Road in Spring Hill, following accusations he shoved the mother of his child onto a chair and repeatedly struck her in the head Saturday morning at their home.
He was charged with a felony because of a prior domestic battery conviction in October 2009, according to sheriff’s records. He had been out on bond following his October 2011 charge of filing a false report.
Twelve hours later, shortly after 5 p.m., deputies arrested Jaimie Renee Samburgh, 40, of 7427 Lykes Dublin Road in Spring Hill, on a domestic battery charge. She was accused of throwing a flip-flop at her daughter and hitting her in the face.
A few minutes before midnight, deputies responded to a house off U.S. 41 following reports of two women fighting.
Roxann Mary Potts, 23, was charged with misdemeanor battery and issued a citation. She was accused of punching another woman along the side of the head because she was unhappy with the babysitting job she had hired her to do.
Several more crimes were committed within the city limits during the weekend. The Brooksville Police Department was dispatched several times from early Sunday until sundown the following day, according to reports.
“Holiday weekends and alcohol always seem to bring out the worst in some people,” said Chief George Turner.
Police arrested William Lacerda, 23, of 523 Hickory St., following allegations he made rude gestures and yelled obscenities at an officer who was conducting a security check along U.S. 41 in front of Miss Kitty’s Hilltop Lounge.
Lacerda wouldn’t listen to commands to stop and he was arrested on a charge of disorderly intoxication, police said.
Meanwhile, his girlfriend, Amanda L. Varney, 26, of 1135 Ponce De Leon Blvd., began her own tirade, according to a media release. She was carried by a friend across the street, but she continued kicking and screaming, which prompted police to charge her with a count of disorderly conduct, said Turner.
Johnnie Paul South, 43, and his wife, Leslie Norma South, also 43, were arrested around 11 p.m. Sunday at their home at 12128 Harris Hawk Road.
The wife is accused of slapping her husband in the face. The husband is accused of grabbing his wife and pouring a beer on her head.
Deputies booked the couple at the Hernando County Jail. Both had prior convictions for domestic battery, so they were charged with felonies and held without bail, according to arrest records.
Additionally, Johnnie South was accused in September 2011 of swinging a tool box at an arresting deputy. It came after he had thrown unopened beer cans at his wife, authorities said.
He pleaded guilty to lesser charges and was sentenced to probation, according to court records.
Almost simultaneously Monday morning, deputies arrested two suspects in separate areas of the county on allegations of domestic battery.
Deborah Ann Collingwood, 50, of 6403 Smithfield Ave. in Spring Hill, and Greg Dana Fortney, 54, of 11243 Buck Hollow Road in Brooksville, were booked one after the other shortly before 2 a.m.
Collingwood was accused of punching and scratching her boyfriend while they were traveling down the road in a vehicle. Deputies said the accuser had obvious injuries and Collingwood appeared to be intoxicated.
Fortney was accused of slapping his girlfriend and knocking off her glasses while the pair argued in the bedroom. He was angry at her about her dentures, angrily reminded her he had paid for them and stuck his fingers in her mouth in an attempt to remove them, deputies said.
She retaliated by biting his fingers, according to an arrest affidavit.
By late afternoon Monday, the frenzied weekend was capped off by two arrests made by Brooksville police.
Travis Phillip Guntor, 19, of 3324 Keystone St. in Spring Hill, was charged with breach of peace following allegations he showed up at his mother’s home at Candlelight Apartments, banged on the door and yelled obscenities.
Two hours later, police arrested Anthony Williams, 35, of 836 Continental Drive in Brooksville, following allegations he threatened a woman with a knife.
Williams emerged from the woods along Armstrong Street yelling and threatening to cut the victim, police said.
Authorities later located him at the corner of South Brooksville Avenue and Duke Street. He was still carrying the knife and appeared to be drunk, said Turner.
[email protected] (352) 544-5283
