A scratched-up Summerfield man who claimed he had just been hugging a tree was jailed early Monday morning after three victims claimed he came at them with two different weapons.
Marion County sheriff’s deputies responded to a residence on S.E. 150th Place in reference to a domestic battery and suicide threat and when they arrived, 28-year-old Christopher John Pettit admitted that he had been in possession of an ax and had wanted to hurt himself but had changed his mind. Pettit refused to be placed in handcuffs and was taken to the ground while being taken into custody under the Baker Act, a sheriff’s office report states.
One of the victims told deputies that Pettit had been upset all night and had pushed her up against a bedroom wall, punched her in the face and choked her. She said she became dizzy because her airway was restricted so she fought back. She said Pettit let her go and she started to leave the bedroom, the report says.
The woman, who had redness around her throat, swelling to the left side of her face near her mouth and a contusion on the left side of her head above the eye, said Pettit picked up a crowbar and came at her. She said she was in fear he was going to hit her with the crowbar so she left the residence and went to a neighbor’s house. She said Pettit followed her while carrying a small hatchet and yelling threats to kill her, the report says.
The woman said a man who is living in a tent on the neighbor’s property tackled Pettit and took the hatchet. She said Pettit then went back to his residence and returned a couple of minutes later with a large machete in his hand. She added that Petitt yelled threats to kill her, the neighbor and the man who took the hatchet away from him before finally returning to his residence, the report says.
The tent dweller said he heard the neighbor and Pettit arguing. He said he heard someone yell, “He has a hatchet,” and came out of his tent and saw Pettit coming up the driveway with the weapon in his hand, the report says.
The tent dweller said he told Pettit to put down the hatchet and then tackled him and took it away from him. He confirmed that Pettit returned a short time later with a machete and said he threatened to kill them and then slice his own throat, the report says.
The neighbor confirmed the story told by both victims and said he told Pettit to leave or he would call law enforcement for help. He said Pettit was “out of control” and threatened to “slice him up” for helping out the woman who ran to his residence.
Deputies attempted to speak with Pettit but he said he wouldn’t answer any questions without his lawyer present. He was then transported to the Marion County Jail and charged with domestic battery by strangulation and three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill. He was being held on $17,000 bond and is due in court Jan. 5 at 9 a.m. to answer to the charges, jail records show.
