A 19-year-old Leesburg man already on probation for battery and burglary is back behind bars after he reportedly slapped his girlfriend and threatened several women with a gun.
Theodore Lamar McNealy was arrested near his home Monday in connection with an incident that happened two days earlier. He was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill and simple battery.
On Saturday, a Leesburg police officer responded to a group of women in an undisclosed parking lot. The first victim, McNealy’s girlfriend of six months, told the officer she and her cousin had picked McNealy up from his grandmother’s residence so he could retrieve some items from an apartment near Sennett Drive. The women left McNealy at the apartment and went to a store with his phone still in the vehicle, according to the Leesburg Police Department arrest report.
When they returned, the victim got out of the passenger side to enter the driver’s seat when McNealy approached her and asked why she left with his phone. McNealy slapped her right ear with an open hand. The two women told McNealy not to put his hands on the victim, but he struck her again in the same manner and place, the report said.
At that point, the victim lost her hearing and was unable to drive away. She heard McNealy say, “They was pulling up to fight,” and she called her aunt to tell her what happened. The victim’s cousin drove her to Walmart, located at 2501 Citrus Blvd., to wait for her aunt to arrive. Once the victim’s aunt arrived, her cousin drove back to Sennett Drive, where she saw several women in the parking lot yelling and arguing. She stayed in her vehicle during the disturbance, according to the report.
As this happened, the victim watched McNealy retrieve a black rifle style firearm from a red SUV. He began to wave it around, but the victim was unsure if he pointed it at or threatened anyone. When she saw it again, McNealy had it wrapped in a blanket. She described the rifle as having a black handle, green in the middle and a black barrel, the report said.
The officer then spoke to the victim’s aunt, who said the victim notified her she was trying to retrieve her items and there were women trying to fight her. The aunt said she came to Sennett Drive to ensure the victim wasn’t “jumped,” and she was flagged down by McNealy. He asked if the victim was with her, to which she stated, “No, what’s up?” McNealy then told a group of women in the parking lot what the aunt said made it sound like she wanted to fight. Believing McNealy was trying to antagonize the situation, the aunt stepped out of her vehicle to show she was four months pregnant and was not wanting to fight, according to the report.
The aunt said she told the women not to believe McNealy and that he was a bad person. As she was talking to them, McNeal ran to “peach colored” Chevy Malibu and retrieved a black rifle. He pointed it at the aunt and threatened to shoot, causing her to duck as he began running with the rifle wrapped in a towel to conceal it. The aunt said McNealy then got into the vehicle he pulled the firearm from and left the scene, the report said.
The victim’s cousin also spoke with police, and she confirmed the accounts of the victim and her aunt, according to the report.
As the victim completed her statement, she began to vomit. She declined EMS at that time but was later taken by ambulance to UF Health Hospital after she started losing consciousness as the officer began to leave the scene, the report said.
The officer ran a criminal history check on McNealy that revealed he was currently on probation in Lake County for aggravated battery intended harm from November 2020 and burglary occupied dwelling from September 2020. He was sentenced to five years of probation that started in August 2021 and expires August 2026.
McNealy was arrested Monday and was taken to the Lake County Jail, where two probation violation charges were added and bond was set at $15,000.
