Jason Futch
reporter2.riverbendnews@gmail.com
An 89-year-old Live Oak man was arrested on Tuesday, Jan. 28, after attacking two women with a cane at the Silas Oaks Apartment complex. According to a report from the Live Oak Police Department (LOPD), at approximately 1:31 p.m., Officer Brandon Taylor responded to the Silas Oaks Apartments on Southwest Silas Drive in response to a verbal disturbance. Upon arrival, Officer Taylor was flagged down by a white female, identified as one of the victims, who had fresh blood on the left side of her face. The victim advised that she was in her apartment when she heard a man screaming. When she left her apartment and walked around the building, she noticed 89-year-old Benjamin Ralph Bell yelling at her mother. She said that when she told him to stop yelling at her mother, Bell struck her on the left side of her face with a brown cane. After Bell struck the victim, he allegedly then grabbed her mother around the back of the neck, and they both fell to the ground. The victim said that she then separated her mother and Bell, and that was when he went back inside. As the victim told Bell that she was going to call 911, he came back out of the apartment, striking her in the face again with the cane. This time, the cane broke in half. Officer Taylor spoke with the victim's mother, who explained that the confrontation began when she heard someone yelling outside. She and another neighbor checked to see what the commotion was, and found Bell walking his dog. When they confronted Bell, he yelled at them, saying he was trying to keep his dog, who was not on a leash, from chasing a cat. Bell continued to yell at the two when the victim finally confronted Bell. The victim's mother confirmed that Bell had struck her daughter with a cane and that he had grabbed her and fallen to the ground. She had a laceration on her left hand, as well as a bruised left wrist. After speaking with the victims, Officer Taylor also talked to the neighbor who had witnessed the incident. She was able to verify their story. Officer Taylor then spoke with Bell. According to the report, he stated he was trying to catch his dog because it was chasing the neighbor's cat. He said that, after securing his dog, four women confronted him about his dog chasing their cat, and that the women were pushing him around. He then stated that he did use his cane to defend himself against the women. After reviewing security footage provided to him, Officer Taylor was able to determine that the two victims' story was accurate and that Bell had provided a false statement. Bell was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He was transported to the Suwannee County Jail, where he later bonded out on Friday, Jan. 31, on a $20,000 bond.