Monitor Editor
LAKE BUTLER— Union deputies arrested a 32-year-old Lake Butler man after saying they had probable cause that the defendant choked his girlfriend, and then blamed her neck injuries on a cat.
Zachery Richard McMillen was arrested on Nov. 12 for misdemeanor domestic battery, felony domestic battery by strangulation, and intimidating a witness.
According to an arrest report, the victim came to the sheriff’s office around 6:18 a.m. crying and “extremely frightened” according to the arresting officer.
The victim said trouble with her boyfriend began around 8:15 the previous night, when he became verbally abusive and then punched her on the left side of her face and her nose.
“(The victim) explained that after Zachery struck her in the face and nose, he placed his hands around her neck, choking her to the point she could not breathe,” wrote the officer. “(She) said she tried begging Zachery to stop several times during this incident, however Zachery would not.”
The victim added that after McMillen finally relented, he apologized for hitting and choking her.
The woman said McMillen then took her phone away from her and forced her to sit next to him on the couch while he sent text messages to her father.
She added that McMillen sent the messages as if she were writing them, telling the father that she loved McMillen and that the father should stop interfering in their relationship.
“(The victim) said Zachery continued to verbally abuse her, calling her ‘nasty names’ and forcing her to apologize for ‘making him do this to her,’” wrote the officer. “(She) explained that throughout the night, Zachery would continue to slap her and spit in her face.”
The officer added that in spite of McMillen’s claims that he could track the victim wherever she went and threats if she reported the incident, the victim drove to the sheriff’s office at her first opportunity.
“During my interactions with (the victim), she was crying and continued to state, ‘He knows where I am at all times, and he will kill me!’” the officer wrote. “’Please do not let him hurt me anymore.’”
The officer wrote that the injuries he observed on the woman were consistent with her statement, including swelling in her left eye, bruising on her nose and several red marks around her throat area.
The officer wrote that he, along with two other deputies made contact with the defendant.
“Zachery denied all allegations against him,” the officer wrote, “and stated that the strangulation marks around (the victim’s) neck were caused by a cat.”
