A Keystone Heights man was arrested Saturday for domestic battery by strangulation and resisting law enforcement officers, deputies say.
Clay County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a complaint of a dispute involving family members at approximately 1:31 p.m. near County Road 214 in Keystone Heights. Upon arrival, deputies spoke with a male witness and a female victim.
The male witness told deputies that he and his wife own the property and he had brought his sons with him to inspect the lakefront area of the outbuildings. He and his sons were on the property for approximately 20 to 30 minutes and were walking back to their truck when Roy Martin, 58, of Keystone Heights came out to challenge them, the witness said.
A woman then came outside to see what was going on and stood in front of Martin to prevent him from fighting the witness, he said. Martin slapped the woman with an open hand across the left side of her face, the witness said. Martin then grabbed her by her throat and pushed her backward until she was up against the side of their car, the witness told deputies.
Martin continued to hold his hand on the woman’s throat while she was bent backward against the car. She told deputies that Martin squeezed hard enough on her throat that her airway was restricted for about five seconds, according to the arrest report.
She said while he was choking her, she was able to get her fingers under his grip and pull his hand away from her throat. It is noted the female victim had red marks on the front and sides of her throat, her cheeks were red and flushed with several broken blood vessels, deputies said.
Martin was “annoyed with deputies being on his property” and tried to go inside the residence, the arrest report said. He was told that he could not go in during an active investigation. He began yelling and slammed the front door closed, deputies said. At this point in time, they established probable cause to place Martin under arrest for domestic battery by strangulation.
Martin fought against deputies' attempts to place him in handcuffs—stiffening his arms and pulling away from them while getting continually more aggressive, they said. For this, he was also charged with resisting officers with violence.
Martin was transported to Clay County Jail and his bond is set at $20,006.
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