Man arrested for animal, child abuse

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Mat Pellegrino

A Navarre man was put behind bars on child and animal abuse charges after he allegedly got drunk and attacked two people inside a Navarre home and a dog, according to a Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.
The suspect, John Spencer, 47, of Sound Haven Court, was arrested after the alleged incident and charged with Cruelty Towards a Child, Conservation-Animals, Aggravated Battery and Battery last Saturday and was put behind bars at Santa Rosa County Jail.
According to his arrest report, Spencer’s live-in fiancé called law enforcement at around midnight Sunday alleging Spencer had attacked her, a dog inside the home and a child inside of the home in a drunken rage.
His fiancé told authorities that both she and Spencer had been drinking Friday evening, and at one point she passed out. She said she later awoke to her 6-month old puppy “squealing” and got up to see what had happened. According to the report, Spencer claimed he was showing the dog a “lesson” when the woman asked what happened. She also told SRSO deputies that the dog was limping.
The woman was also notified when she woke up that Spencer had gotten into an argument with a child inside the home prior to her waking up.

John Spencer

John Spencer

The woman later went into a bedroom and was sitting on the bed when Spencer allegedly punched the door open and hit the woman with a cell phone that he had in his hand.
At one point during the attack, the child entered the room and tried to pry Spencer off of the woman. The juvenile told SRSO deputies that he/she heard Spencer attacking the woman and came into her room to help defend her. That’s when Spencer allegedly grabbed the child by the hair and pulled. The report alleged that Spencer pulled both victims into the hallway and began punching them.
The adult victim was able to get free, but Spencer allegedly kept attacking the child. The juvenile told law enforcement that at one point Spencer got on top of him/her and was choking them. The woman later went to the kitchen, retrieved a cast iron skillet and hit Spencer in the back of the head with it, the report stated. Both the victims were able to get away after that.
Law enforcement observed several injuries to the adult including a cut on the right side of her forehead, a swollen left cheek, a scratch on the inner portion of her left elbow, a scratch on her right elbow and a large knot that was swollen on the back side of her head.
The juvenile had injuries as well, including: a scratch on top of his/her right eye lid, a scratch on the top of his/her right forehead, red marks on both sides of his/her neck, a scratch on the back left side of his/her neck, a scratch above his/her left elbow near their forearm, and a large bump on the side of his/her head.
According to the report, Spencer was allegedly unable to provide law enforcement with a statement, but did tell them that both victims attacked him. The suspect also had several injuries noted on him in the report including scratches on his thigh, forehead and right knee.
Spencer was later put behind bars at SRC Jail with $31,000 bond and remains behind bars as of press time.