Newberry Man Arrested for Multiple Assaults

NEWBERRY ‒ Ozell Rasheem Hoyt, 29, was arrested on Tuesday, May 3 following two separate assault incidents at the same location the previous night.

According to arrest reports, shortly after midnight on May 3, Hoyt arrived at the home of a woman he had previously been in a relationship with. The woman reportedly didn’t let him in because she thought he was high. About an hour later, the woman’s mother let him in and he entered the woman’s bedroom, then went to the kitchen, picked up a steak knife and went back to the bedroom while attempting to conceal the knife in his shirt. He allegedly threatened to kill the woman while walking toward her with the blade of the knife protruding from his shirt.

The woman’s mother told deputies that she was able to convince him to leave the bedroom and he put the knife in the kitchen sink. The woman’s mother pushed him out of the residence and locked the door.

At about 3:25 a.m. the same night, the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call about a man trying to force entry to the same home by throwing a cinderblock into a window.

When the deputy arrived, he found Hoyt with a large piece of cinderblock in his hands behind his back. After Hoyt reportedly refused multiple commands to drop the cinderblock, the deputy drew his Taser and told Hoyt he would be tased if he did not drop the cinderblock.

The deputy reported that Hoyt then assumed an aggressive posture, holding the cinderblock out to one side. When the deputy repeated the command to drop the cinderblock, Hoyt allegedly said, “You will have to shoot me” and started moving toward the deputy. The deputy deployed his Taser, and he was able to handcuff Hoyt.

Post Miranda, Hoyt denied the verbal argument occurring with the woman and stated that he never was in possession of a knife. However, both the mother and daughter allegedly saw Hoyt with the knife.

Hoyt has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, assault on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest. He is being held on $155,000 bail.

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