A Mascotte man was arrested after allegedly strangling his wife and stealing her money when confronted about cheating.
An officer responded to Foxtail Coffee, located at 2608 S U.S. Hwy. 27, Suite 200, regarding 44-year-old Ramiro Hernandez battering his wife on Monday evening, according to an arrest report from the Clermont Police Department.
The wife advised that she met Hernandez for dinner at Amore Italian Ristorante, located at 2608 S U.S. Hwy. 27, Suite 100. While in the parking lot, she began receiving Facebook messages from a woman with whom she believed Hernandez was having an affair. She was reaching out to tell the wife that he was constantly texting and calling her, but she wanted nothing to do with him, the report said.
As the wife confronted Hernandez about this, he snatched the phone from her hand and threw it onto the highway. She estimated the damage to be about $200. She then walked down the highway, waited for traffic to clear and retrieved the phone, the report said.
She did not believe the phone would work again due to the cracked screen, so she walked back to her truck to get her backpack and wallet. She proceeded to walk south toward T-Mobile to get her phone fixed or replaced. But Hernandez came up behind her and snatched the bag from her person, breaking the hook, the report said.
He removed between $300 and $400 from the bag before throwing it. She later told law enforcement that the cash was in its own bundle and all in $20 bills, the report said.
The wife then approached Hernandez, who was standing at the back of the truck, and pulled his shorts down to get her money back. Infuriated, he strangled her to the point she could not breath. She believed he heard bystanders at that point, so he let her go and took off running around the restaurant building. He later made it back to the truck and left the scene, the report said.
While talking to the officer, the wife spoke with Hernandez over the phone. He initially denied having the money, but he eventually stated he had her $320 in cash with him. She wanted it back, so he agreed to come pick her up from the coffee shop, the report said.
He was skeptical about returning to the scene over the phone because he believed he would be arrested. He stated he was coming from the Tampa area at first, yet he was actually near their residence. The officer overheard him say something along the lines of law enforcement coming for him before Mascotte officers gave him commands. The officer asked the wife to disconnect the call so he could be taken safely into custody, the report said.
Of the two witnesses, the first stated he saw the couple walking toward Planet Fitness. He heard the wife screaming for someone to call the police and ran into Foxtail Coffee for help. He then saw Hernandez with his hands around the wife’s neck, the report said.
The second witness, a Foxtail employee, saw Hernandez strangling the wife and shaking her aggressively. He eventually let go and ran past the restaurant, so the employee went down the alley to keep an eye on him. He lost sight when Hernandez “doubled back” and ran to his truck, the report said.
During the investigation, the officer responded to the couple’s home in Mascotte, where Hernandez had been apprehended in the truck. The $320 sat in the front passenger-side cupholder in a bundle, as the wife described. The money was secured in the center console and turned over to her friend at the wife’s request, the report said.
Hernandez ultimately advised that nothing happened, and they both threw each other’s phones at the restaurant. His phone showed no obvious signs of damage, and he did not want to do anything about it anyway. They were planning on getting new phones, so damaging the wife’s did not matter, the report said.
He added that the plan was to get new phones, and he was just coming home to get cash to pay for them. He did not remember grabbing the wife’s purse. When asked if he grabbed her by the neck, he initially stated it was to kiss her. He changed his story to say he put his hand on her back to kiss her, the report said.
The report noted that the wife had slight redness around her neck and scratches on her chest. Hernandez had what appeared to be redness on his right-hand knuckle.
Hernandez was arrested on charges of battery by strangulation (domestic), two counts of robbery by sudden snatching without a firearm and two counts of criminal mischief (damage under $200). The Texas native was booked at Lake County Jail with bond set at $11,000.