A homeless man was arrested after he reportedly got into a physical altercation with a man and woman over the age of 65 at a Belleview laundromat.
A Belleview Police officer responded recently to the Rock and Wash II, located at 10477 S. U.S. Hwy. 441, where the female victim said Loyd Allen Lunceford, 47, walked inside the business and threw an empty Jack Daniels box with shot glasses toward her, according to the police report.
The female victim said the male victim then stepped between Lunceford and her to keep Lunceford from attacking her. She said Lunceford grabbed the male victim by the neck and slammed him into the wall. The female victim said the male victim was able to get free, and she stepped between him and Lunceford and told Lunceford to leave him alone. She said Lunceford left the location through the back door and ran into the woods, the report said.
The male victim said Lunceford came into the laundromat and started yelling at the female victim. He said Lunceford took a knife out of his pocket and set it on the county. The male victim said he grabbed the knife and put it in his pocket, according to the report.
The male victim said he then stepped between Lunceford and the female victim, and Lunceford grabbed him by the neck and shoved him into the wall. He said he wasn’t able to breathe when Lunceford had him by the neck. The male victim said he was able to break Lunceford’s grip by turning and pushing him into the wall, the report said.
The male victim said the female victim told Lunceford to leave him alone. He said Lunceford said he was going to bury him before he went to jail. The male victim said Lunceford left through the back door, according to the report.
The officer observed red marks on the male victim’s neck. A Marion County Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit tried to track Lunceford’s scent behind the incident location but was unable to, the report said.
The female victim called 911 and reported Lunceford was at her home on SE 38th Court. She said she saw him on the porch, then left and waited for law enforcement at a gas station down the road, according to the report.
The officer and sheriff’s deputies responded to the victim’s home and found Lunceford inside. During a pat-down search, Lunceford said he had a bottle in his right pocket that previously had methamphetamine in it. The officer found the bottle and the small amount of white powdery residue inside it tested positive for meth, the report said.
Lunceford, who refused to answer any questions about the incident, was charged with battery on a person 65 years of age or older, simple assault on a person 65 years of age or older, possession of drug paraphernalia, and violating his probation from a prior conviction for domestic battery by strangulation.
Lunceford was held without bond. He will appear in Marion County Court on April 26 for the probation violation and May 11 for the rest of the charges.