LADY LAKE, Florida (WESH) — A 76-year-old man is accused of hitting a worker at a car show on purpose.
Anthony Guerra is facing charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon after the incident.
Words like belligerent and aggressive were used to describe Guerra’s behavior towards staff in the arrest report.
“They have these car shows every so often,” said Lady Lake police Chief Steven Hunt. “They go off without a hitch routinely. So this was something very unique.”
It all started just before 4 p.m. on Saturday in the Spanish Springs section of The Villages. The victim, who was part of The Villages entertainment staff, was told a man was being “belligerent” with other staff over entry into a car show.
“Evidently, tempers flared a little bit,” Chief Hunt said.
Seventy-six-year-old Anthony Guerra was asked to leave the event. And after Guerra put his car into reverse:
“It appears deliberately struck the staff member, causing him to go up onto the trunk and roll off to the side,” Hunt said.
The man was taken to the hospital and is expected to be OK.
“It definitely could have been a lot worse,” Hunt said. “So we’re thankful that it wasn’t.
According to the arrest affidavit, Guerra told an officer he was upset about another group being let into the car show ahead of him and that the victim called him a name.
Guerra said when he backed up, he “…did not see the victim until the victim was on his luggage rack” on the back of the car.
But witnesses and the victim say Guerra did it on purpose because he had been kicked out of the show.
“He was arrested and charged with battery with a deadly weapon because of the motor vehicle that was involved,” Hunt said.
After being taken into custody, Guerra was also taken to the hospital — after beginning to shake uncontrollably — but was taken to the Lake County Jail once he was medically cleared. He has since been released.
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