[PHOTO CREDIT: Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
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EUSTIS, Florida – Last week a wife phone-tracked her husband (whom she initially claimed was driving drunk) to a public location where things became physical. According an arrest report, during the incident the wife placed her husband in a “chokehold” and the husband “grabbed her son by the hair and attempted to throw a punch at him… .” Both Kristy Leigh Loper, 37, and Anthony Michael Loper, 31, were arrested for battery and taken to jail.
The son told police “that his mother, Kristy, removed the key’s from [her husband’s] vehicle which is when Anthony attempted to get the keys back.” Police reviewed surveillance footage prior to making any arrests and “observed Kristy exit the driver’s side of the sedan and approach the driver’s door of the pickup. It appears as if Kristy and Anthony had a confrontation. It is unclear if Anthony exited the truck willingly or if he was removed from the truck by Kristy. I observed the couple argue face-to-face for approximately 2-3 minutes. At that time I observed Anthony put his arm around Kristy’s shoulder as if he was reaching around her to retrieve the vehicle’s keys. The couple began to wrestle, and it appears as if both subjects punch each other several times. Kristy and Anthony then fall to the ground… I then observed Kristy and Anthony stand up, which is when Kristy’s son joins the confrontation and begins wrestling with Anthony.”
Despite the evidence where “both [are] seen on video wrestling and striking each other”, each subject offered denials to police and “[b]oth changed their statements during questioning”, according to the report. “Anthony stated that neither party got physical with each other whatsoever” and “Kristy initially stated that Anthony did not push or strike her in anyway (sic)… [and] that neither party threw strikes at one another… .”
Anthony Loper has prior Lake County arrests for battery and DUI.
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James Hope is a Florida Bar Board Certified Criminal Trial Lawyer who has been practicing criminal law in Tavares, Florida, since 1987. He has also been the Publisher and Executive Editor of Lake Legal News since 2009. He may be contacted at LakeLegalNews@gmail.com, or through his website at www.AttorneyJamesHope.com. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
