A Leesburg man was arrested on battery charges when an altercation with his half-brother escalated into a physical confrontation.
A deputy was dispatched to an undisclosed Fruitland Park residence regarding two men, one of which was later identified as 34-year-old Jonathan Madison Morris, fighting around 8 p.m. Wednesday, according to an arrest report from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Upon arrival, the deputy talked to the victim who had blood coming from the right side of his head and blood down his neck and chest. He advised that Morris, his half-brother, knocked on his front door to speak with him. The victim told Morris he was not welcome and that he needed to leave multiple times, the report said.
The victim tried to close his front door when Morris caught it before it could latch, opened it and entered the residence. The victim turned around and yelled for him to get out of his house, at which point they got into a physical altercation, the report said.
The deputy next interviewed a witness, the victim’s girlfriend. She stated that Morris came to their home around 8:00 p.m. and knocked on the door, but she did not answer. The victim went to see who it was and saw Morris, leading to him telling Morris to leave and closing the door, the report said.
Morris did not leave, so the victim opened it again and told him at least 10 times he had to go. Morris then opened the door and walked inside, causing the victim to push him out. This led to a fight, the report said.
The witness ran to close the door, heard a bang and saw Morris on top of the victim. He was banging the victim’s head into the ground, causing him to bleed. The witness pushed Morris off the victim and out of the residence in response, the report said.
While at the scene, the deputy photographed injuries on the victim and the scene of where the altercation happened. There was blood on the floor to the entrance of the residence, a hole in the wall and blood on the walls. He also observed a brown button with a thread in the center of the doorway which the victim advised was probably Morris’ because the victim did not have a shirt on during the altercation, the report said.
Contact was not made with Morris until the following night around 10:45 p.m. when a detective went to his residence, located at an apartment on 3811 Picciola Road in Leesburg. Prior to his arrival, the detective learned that Morris called to speak with deputies about an incident that happened the night before between him and his brother, the report said.
Upon the detective’s arrival, Morris explained that he went to the victim’s residence Wednesday where his mother also lived but was told to leave by the victim. The door opened, and the victim told him he “should be dead right now” and that he should kill him for kissing his wife before closing the door, the report said.
The victim then opened the door again, grabbed Morris, slammed him down and put him in a head lock. Morris elbowed the victim to get him off then took his right arm and grabbed the victim’s head, repeatedly slamming it into the ground screaming “get off of me.” When he was able to get up, the victim tried to swing at him but missed before he left, the report said,
The report noted that Morris stated that once the door was reopened by the victim who was upset with him, he never left and stated, “I thought cause he’s my brother we could talk about this.” While the door was open, he entered the residence. Then, the physical altercation happened, the report said.
Morris was ultimately arrested and charged with simple battery causing bodily harm (domestic) and burglary with battery (domestic). The California native was transported to the Lake County Jail before being released for paying $51,000 bond.
