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Friday, March 29, 2024

Leesburg man charged with strangling lady friend

Kevin Michael Koontz

A Leesburg man was arrested the day after he was accused of strangling his live-in lady friend.

Kevin Michael Koontz, 41, of Center Lane, was charged with domestic battery by strangulation. He fled the incident location before a Lake County sheriff’s deputy arrived Sunday and was arrested there the next day.

The victim was crying and visibly shaken when the deputy responded to the home at around 5:30 p.m. She said earlier in the day she was laying in the bed naked with Koontz when their dog pushed open the door, so she sat up in bed to close it. The victim said Koontz then asked her where she had been and she said, “nowhere,” according to the sheriff’s office report.

The victim said she and Koontz started arguing and he became enraged and pushed her against the wall, grabbed her by the throat and started choking her to the point where she couldn’t breathe and felt like she might pass out. She said Koontz shoved his thumb into her windpipe while he was squeezing her neck, the report said.

The victim said Koontz continued to choke her until two witnesses – a man and a woman – entered the bedroom. She said at that point, Koontz gathered some belongings and left the residence. The deputy observed the victim had red marks along the front of her neck consistent with being choked, according to the report.

The female witness said she was in her room when she heard the disturbance coming from the couple’s bedroom. She said she could hear what sounded like the victim being choked, and when she and the male witness entered the bedroom, she saw the victim sitting against the wall crying, saying Koontz had choked her, the report said.

The female witness said she told the victim to get dressed and escorted her from the bedroom. She said she saw Koontz flee the residence with some of his belongings and she contacted law enforcement, according to the report.

The male witness said he was outside the residence when he heard Koontz and the victim arguing in their bedroom. He said when he looked up, he saw that Koontz had the victim pushed up against the wall with a hand on her throat, choking her. The male witness said he immediately ran into the residence and entered the bedroom, the report said.

The male witness said by the time he got to the bedroom, Koontz had let the victim go and she was sitting on the floor against the wall crying. He said the victim told him Koontz had choked her. He said he saw Koontz leave the residence with some of his belongings, according to the report.

Several deputies, including K-9 units, searched the area for Koontz but couldn’t find him. Deputies responded to the home on Monday and arrested him. Koontz is being held in the Lake County Jail on $2,500 bond and is scheduled to appear in Lake County Court on March 1.

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