A suspect has been arrested after an alleged attack on a woman at Lake Okahumpka Park in Wildwood.
The woman reported she had been arguing with 50-year-old Shawn Timothy Byrne of Lady Lake when she wanted to get away from him and traveled on foot at about 11 a.m. Saturday to Lake Okahumpka Park on State Road 44, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. She said Byrne, who was arrested in 2021 after allegedly swinging a baseball bat at a woman, followed her to the park and began pushing and shoving her. The Illinois native pulled the woman’s hair and when deputies arrived they found “a large chunk of hair extensions lying on the ground.” He also punched her in the face and broke her necklace.
Byrne claimed he had been chasing the woman because she was “off her medications” and “intoxicated.”
He was arrested on a felony charge of battery and booked at the Sumter County Detention Center. Bond was set at $2,500. A hold has been put on his custody by Lake County.
