An attack victim has shared a video from an altercation that left him with a fractured arm last month at a shopping plaza in The Villages.
The man, who is in his late 60s and works as a medical professional in The Villages, was struck multiple times with a metal cane on the afternoon of Nov. 21 at Spanish Plaines Shopping Center, near UF Health Spanish Plaines Hospital. His attackers, 52-year-old James Temple of Summerfield and 50-year-old Darrin Jermaine Jones of Ocala, were arrested as a result of the violent episode. They both remain behind bars at the Sumter County Detention Center.
The man who was attacked, in an interview this week with Villages-News.com, said he was shocked that such a violent incident erupted in broad daylight in the parking lot near Publix. The man, who is still wearing a velcro cast on his arm, is not being identified by Villages-News.com as he is the victim of a crime.
He said he had gone to the shopping plaza where he spotted a woman using a walker and approaching cars in the vicinity of First Watch cafe and the UPS Store. The woman was approaching motorists, asking for money that she claimed she needed for cancer treatments.
The man thought the situation seemed suspicious and used his phone to begin shooting video of her. She used her phone to partially cover her face and immediately began contacting Temple and Jones, who were in the parking lot with her, but had been laying low while the woman approached motorists.
When the man began filming the woman, she suddenly seemed spry and began quickly walking away from him. Jones emerged from between parked cards and initially tried to hustle away with the woman. But when the man began filming Temple, the incident turned violent when Temple used his cane to repeatedly strike the man. Jones, who was previously convicted of robbery, quickly joined in.
Law enforcement soon arrived and the man who had been attacked was taken to the nearby hospital.
He admits that deputies and his wife both admonished him for boldly filming the trio in the parking lot.
He said he stands by his decision. He said that what the trio had been doing was “wrong,” and that type of behavior should not be tolerated, particularly in a place like The Villages with a huge number of elderly residents.
Do you agree with his actions? Do you think scammers and panhandlers are getting out of control in The Villages? Share your thoughts at letters@villages-news.com
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Source: village-news
