A Leesburg man was arrested for allegedly landing his girlfriend in the hospital by headbutting her twice during an argument, causing her nose to bleed.
An officer responded to UF Health Leesburg Hospital, located at 600 E. Dixie Avenue, on the morning of Oct. 2 regarding a battery that occurred the previous day, according to an arrest report from the Leesburg Police Department. Upon his arrival, he met with a woman in an ER room who was identified by her driver’s license as the victim.
The victim advised that she and her boyfriend of one year, 36-year-old Nicholas David Muzio, who had lived together for four months with three children they did not share in common, got into a verbal argument. This argument was about the children’s Legos being left on the living room table, the report said.
Muzio started yelling at the victim and called her children profanities, to which she got upset and began yelling back in defense of her children. He became physical by walking up to her and headbutting her in the face, causing her nose to bleed. She struck him with an open hand to get him away from her, and he responded by grabbing her head and shoving her to the ground, the report said.
The victim picked herself up from the floor and walked away while Muzio continued escalating the altercation. She proceeded to yell at him in return, to which he responded by walking toward her and headbutting her for the second time. At this point, her nose began to bleed more. She grabbed a towel to clean herself off and spent the night on the couch, the report said.
The report noted the victim did not contact law enforcement until the next day because she wanted to keep her three children from witnessing the situation. Still, bruising and swelling were observed around her left and right orbital sockets, her nose and her right elbow.
Due to the victim’s sworn written statement, Muzio was determined to be the primary aggressor in the incident. Officer later met with him at an undisclosed address where he was handcuffed and placed into the back of a patrol vehicle. He later invoked his rights, the report said.
Muzio was charged with simple battery (domestic) and transported to Lake County Jail. The New York native is being held without bond.