A Florida man is jailed after authorities say he brutally assaulted his sleeping girlfriend with household items and killed her small dog when it tried to protect her.
Elliot Mack, 52, is charged with domestic battery and animal cruelty in connection with an Oct. 20 incident in Belleview, a city just north of The Villages, according to an arrest affidavit.
Investigators wrote that a 911 caller repeatedly said “he beat her” and reported there was “blood all over the walls.” When officers arrived, they found the woman “crawling” out of the home. She had bruises across her body and was bleeding from her face and mouth, and officers described her as “hysterical and disoriented.”
The woman told police that Mack, her boyfriend, began striking her while she was asleep in bed, using a kitchen utensil holder and a speaker, then slammed a dresser on top of her, the affidavit states. She said her chihuahua tried to intervene, and Mack then killed the dog. She did not see exactly how the dog was killed but said she later saw its body and “blood all over the place,” according to investigators.
Mack allegedly left the residence and then returned to hit her again before leaving once more. The woman told police she believed he was “coming back to kill her” and was trying to “take everything from her.”
A neighbor reported that the victim had called her for help, prompting the neighbor to contact 911. She told officers she saw Mack leaving and said he had threatened to knock the woman out if he saw her again. The neighbor also claimed Mack assaults the victim two or three times a week, but the incidents aren’t reported, according to the affidavit.
Paramedics evaluated the woman and found her blood pressure was “dangerously high,” but she declined transport to a hospital. Officers searching the home discovered significant bloodstains and found the dead dog inside a pillowcase. Based on the animal’s visible injuries, officers concluded the dog had “unnecessarily suffered and died a cruel death,” the affidavit says.
Police obtained a warrant for Mack’s arrest and took him into custody on Nov. 3. He has entered a not guilty plea and is being held at the Marion County Jail without bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 2.
