A Shands at UF employee was arrested at work Friday night on domestic battery charges.
When Tiffany P. Hobdy told Benjamin T. Lewis on Friday she could not return rent money to him, their argument turned violent, according to a Gainesville Police report. Lewis pushed Hobdy onto a bed and began to choke her. The confrontation took place in the Cobblestone Apartments complex on Northwest 23rd Boulevard.
Lewis was arrested at Shands at 8:47 p.m. Friday. He was charged with preventing Hobdy from talking to law enforcement and domestic battery by choking her, both third-degree felonies. He was also charged with resisting a police officer without violence, a first-degree misdemeanor.
Lewis and Hobdy have lived together on and off for about two years. The couple has a 2-year-old daughter together, Lewis said.
During the couple's argument, Hobdy threatened to call 911, but Lewis snatched the phone and threw it downstairs, according to the arrest report. The two scrambled for the phone, but Lewis got to it first. He then snapped the phone in half.
Officer Daniel Beans found a TV and a DVD player smashed on the floor. He later found Lewis at Shands, where he works as a linen technician. The report states that Lewis told Beans he was actually a security guard, but Lewis said Monday he did not mislead the officer.
"This is all news to me, man," Lewis said. "What you're seeing is what I'm seeing. I don't know why they're saying I'm a security guard."
Before he was arrested, Lewis confirmed to Beans he had pushed Hobdy on the bed and "hemmed her up," according to the report. He also said he took Hobdy's phone after she threatened to call the police.
On Monday, Lewis said he never gave a statement prior to his arrest.
