A Leesburg man was arrested for battery after allegedly grabbing his daughter by the throat for money to buy crack cocaine.
A neighbor of 56-year-old Richard Adams Moore called the police when a woman came out of the home next door, saying her father had hit her around 6 p.m. Thursday, March 5, according to an arrest report from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Moore’s daughter was emotional and skittish as she told a deputy how she and Moore had been arguing because he wanted her to give him money to buy crack cocaine. The deputy knew Moore from a prior case where he struck his elderly father for not giving him money for drugs, the report said.
The daughter started to cry at times, and her statements made it seem like she was protecting Moore. She insinuated that nothing physical happened, yet she could not explain why she ran to the neighbor’s house in a panic. She sustained redness toward the top of her chest and neck area, the report said.
Due to this, the deputy spoke with Moore, who also claimed nothing physical happened. But another neighbor stated the daughter had come knocking at the door because Moore grabbed her. She did not elaborate where, as she did not want the police to be called or her father to go to jail, the report said.
The deputy later went back to the daughter for another interview, during which she admitted Moore had grabbed her by the throat. She confirmed that she did not say anything about this at first to keep Moore out of jail and help him due to his addiction. She had made a promise to the now-deceased grandfather, the report said.
Moore was arrested on charge of simple battery (domestic). The Georgia native was booked at the Lake County Jail with bond set at $2,000.