John Crosby, 47, of Pace remains in custody at the Santa Rosa County Jail with felony charges of aggravated assault with a weapon and aggravated assault stemming from an incident which occurred in front of his property, last Saturday.
In the incident, a deputy with the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to a Pace residence in regards to a disturbance. Two males, located in the same Pace neighborhood as Crosby, accused Crosby of threatening them with an axe handle. Witness testimonies at the scene state Crosby struck one of the males with the handle, following a verbal altercation.
According to the arrest report, the two males were having a verbal altercation with Crosby in the roadway of Wellington Court. In the altercation, witnesses claim Crosby then took off his shirt and threatened the two male before going inside his home, located nearby. Crosby would later return with a wooden axe handle in hand trying to hit both of the males, the reported said.
Crosby told the deputy the males yelled at him while he was returning home. He also told the deputy the two males had sticks and were throwing rocks at him, In the report, Crosby later stated the rock were “pebbles” and they did not cause any harm to him. Crosby also told the deputy he did not hit anyone with the axe handle, the report said.
While being interviewed, The deputy said Crosby “was angry and was somewhat intoxicated,” in the report.
In addition to receiving witness testimonies, in which Crosby struck one of the two males in head – near the right eye area, the deputy also observed injuries to the male’s face. The injuries, including redness and slight swelling, on the male corroborated the witness accounts in the arrest report.
In the report, the two males had apparently lived with Crosby and their mother as a family unit for nearly two years. Apparently Crosby had dated their mother until recently. Crosby told the deputy the two males and their mother had moved outside of his household around Thanksgiving of this year.
He is being held at Santa Rosa County Jail with $20,000 bond.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Pace resident faces assault, battery charges in altercation with neighbors