A Clermont man was arrested after allegedly holding his ex-girlfriend hostage and threatening to kill her over text messages between her and another man.
Police responded to an alleged domestic violence incident that was in progress at an undisclosed location in Clermont at about 10:30 a.m. Saturday, according to an arrest report from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Upon arrival of deputies, law enforcement made entry to the right side of the residence where there was a gate to a wooden privacy fence. While entering the back yard, they observed 41-year-old Jesse Lee Wamsley and the female victim sitting on a screened-in lanai. Deputies immediately made contact and placed Wamsley in restraints, the report said.
Both individuals were separated from each other, and Wamsley was escorted to a patrol vehicle. He said the victim was having romantic relations outside of their relationship of multiple years. He advised that he had a gut feeling she was cheating on him, so he grabbed her cellphone while she was asleep to go through it and confirm his allegations. He confronted the victim about text messages between her and another man once she woke up. He denied the incident ever becoming physical, the report said.
Law enforcement then spoke with the victim, who was visibly shaken and upset. She said she and Wamsley had been in a relationship for some years but had broken up since May. She was also in the process of getting an eviction on him, the report said.
When the victim woke up that morning, she noticed her cellphone was missing and asked Wamsley where it was. That was when he confronted her about suspected messages between her and another man. Wamsley struck the victim in the forehead with her phone, starting an altercation that continued throughout the morning, the report said.
The victim tried to grab the keys to her vehicle and leave the residence, but Wamsley cornered her in the laundry room. He would not allow her to leave as he grabbed both of her arms and pushed her against the door. The victim was in extreme fear that he was going to hurt her due to him battering her before, the report said.
The verbal altercation continued during which Wamsley told the victim he was going to have some of his affiliates from a motorcycle club kill her. This instilled a great fear in the victim due to her knowing that Wamsley ran drugs for and had multiple close ties to the club. He also told the victim he was going to burn down her house with her inside it, and he was going to rape her, the report said.
While speaking with the victim, officers observed what appeared to be red marks on both of her arms that would coincide with her allegations of being held by her arms in the laundry room. It was obvious she was extremely distraught and scared for her life, the report said.
The victim later told police that a friend notified her that Wamsley said he would kill her by poisoning her food with Visine eyedrops. She also believed he had taken both sets of her car keys, which he denied and stated he did not know where they were at.
The Maryland native was arrested and charged with false imprisonment (domestic), simple battery (domestic) and assault (domestic). He was transported to the Lake County Jail with bond set at $12,000.
