A New Jersey native was taken into custody Thursday evening for allegedly assaulting and dragging a woman up a flight of stairs at the Lake Sumter Apartments on County Road 466.
Jacob Sireci, 29, was arrested on a felony charge of domestic battery (second or subsequent offense) following the confrontation.
According to an arrest record from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, deputies arrived at the apartment complex about 6:20 p.m. in response to a physical disturbance. The victim told deputies that she and Sireci had a verbal argument. When she tried to leave the house, Sireci allegedly told her she couldn’t and pushed her into a corner of the living room, seizing both of her arms to keep her from fleeing.
The woman told deputies that she dug her fingernails into Sireci’s arm to get free, then raced out the door and down the stairs. When deputies asked if Sireci followed her or if anything happened on the stairwell, she said she couldn’t remember.
Witnesses swiftly filled in the gaps for law enforcement.
A neighbor reported hearing a woman cry, “Get off of me!” When the witnesses went out of their apartment, they saw Sireci forcibly grab the victim’s wrist and pull her back up the stairs while screaming, “Call 911!”
Another neighbor heard the shouts and opened their door to saw Sireci use both hands to shove the woman in the chest, forcing her back inside.
Sireci fled the area on foot before police arrived. A short time later, a deputy noticed him wandering at the front of the complex, noting that he was “very sweaty.” He was jailed and then identified.
A criminal background check revealed that the Camden, New Jersey native had previously been convicted of violence.
Sireci was booked into the Sumter County Detention Center and was held without bond owing to the domestic nature of the event.
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