An Ocala nurse was arrested early Sunday morning after a day at the beach turned violent and a man reported being bitten and battered.
When Marion County deputies arrived at a home on SW 68th Terrace, a man told them that he and 46-year-old Ava Juanita Brooks were in the master bedroom after returning home from the beach. He said an altercation broke out and he didn’t want to argue, so he placed his personal items in a bag and attempted to leave the residence.
But the man said Brooks grabbed the bag and it ripped open, scattering his belongings around the room, a sheriff’s office report states, adding that the man said he only wanted his keys so he could leave.
At that point, the man said, the altercation turned violent. He said he was standing near a dresser when Brooks allegedly struck him several times with her hands and feet from the bed. He said he took refuge in the master bathroom, but Brooks followed him and allegedly bit him three times, once on each shoulder and later on the right arm. The man said Brooks also allegedly struck him in the head/face area and he started to bleed from his right ear area, the report says.
The man told the deputy he eventually got away from Brooks and went outside to call 911 for help.
The deputy noted that the man had several scratches on his body, including two approximately three inches long on his arm and lower abdomen.
Brooks told deputies that she struck and bit the victim “only once” to defend herself, the report says, adding that she appeared to have a lone bite mark on her right wrist.
Brooks, who listed her employer as Arbor Trail (Rehab and Skilled Nursing Center in Inverness) and another health care facility was booked into the Marion County Jail at 2:39 a.m. Sunday. She was charged with battery and released Sunday afternoon with a pending court hearing set for July 25 at 1 p.m.
