A Leesburg man will appear in court next week for allegedly smashing a housemate’s phone with a hammer.
An officer responded to a disturbance at the home of 57-year-old Jerry Lee Mans on Industrial Street around 9:50 p.m. Tuesday, May 12, according to a case report from the Leesburg Police Department. Upon arrival, he spoke with a female resident.
She advised that she returned home that day to see Mans and a witness outside. When she got out of her vehicle, the witness yelled, “What are you doing here?” The witness subsequently went inside the residence and locked the door so the resident could not enter, the report said.
The resident retrieved a screwdriver from her vehicle to enter the home, then tapped on the front window with it. She noticed Mans approaching her with a brown-and-black hammer in his hand as he “got into her face.” He threatened her, so she pushed him away twice, the report said.
She started to walk away from the front door when he grabbed her black Samsung A356U, which had fallen to the ground during the altercation. He proceeded to smash the $400 phone with the hammer, the report said.
During an interview with Mans, he stated he was working on a fence when the resident pulled up. She began cursing at him, asking him what he was doing. The two continued to argue until he took his tools to the front porch to put them away, the report said.
At that point, the resident was attempting to bust the front door window. He asked her not to beat on the glass, to which she turned, grabbed him and threw him off the porch. He added that he grabbed his hammer but never used it. He admitted to smashing her phone with it, though, the report said.
The witness later advised that she shut the front door and would not allow the resident inside. She heard the physical altercation between the two and opened the front door, only seeing them in a physical altercation in the front yard. She did not see the resident push Mans, nor did Mans make any threats with his hammer, the report said.
Mans was ultimately issued a citation for criminal mischief. The Georgia native is due in court on May 27.