MARION COUNTY, Fla. — An off-duty law enforcement officer with the Marion County Sheriff's Office was arrested Saturday on domestic battery charges.
Deputies say they were called to a domestic disturbance involving off-duty officer Roy Johnson, 42. Following an investigation, deputies say they were led to believe that Johnson attacked a woman during an argument.
According to the arrest affidavit, Johnson told deputies he locked the woman out of the house Saturday before throwing all of her clothes outside.
When she got home, deputies say the woman tried to "put her hand through the glass" to get inside.
Continuing to argue, the off-duty officer told deputies the woman "slung" all of the "knick knacks" off of a shelf in the living room into the sliding glass door, shattering it, the affidavit says. He reportedly denies pushing the woman through the window, which is what she said happened.
According to the sheriff's office, the woman said the argument actually started the day before when she went to help friends set up for a wedding. She reportedly said that Johnson attempted to track her location and became upset when he couldn't find her.
The next day, Johnson ended up attending the wedding. He wanted to leave the wedding early and reportedly became upset when the woman didn't leave as well.
The woman says after returning home from the wedding, she was walking towards the front door when Johnson grabbed her by the back of the head and pushed her forward, the affidavit explains. This reportedly caused her to fall through the glass window next to the door.
She was bleeding with her hand wrapped in what appeared to be a paper towel, deputies wrote.
Johnson was arrested and placed on leave without pay pending the outcome of the case.
"It breaks my heart when one of our own goes against the very thing we have sworn to uphold. However, I will not tolerate any of our employees committing an act of domestic violence and, if we establish this has occurred, we will take action to hold them accountable," Sheriff Billy Woods said in a statement.
"Our mission has always been to provide help and resources to domestic violence victims. We will always continue to put the victims of domestic violence first, and this horribly poor choice by one individual will not stop us from upholding our commitment to our citizens."
10 Tampa Bay Cares: The National Domestic Violence Hotline can be reached 24/7 at 800-799-7233.
