BUNNELL, Fla. – Flagler County deputies responding to a disturbance Saturday in the parking lot of the Old Country Store in Bunnell pursued a man driving away in a Cadillac, who witnesses said was beating a woman. When they stopped the vehicle after a pursuit that went on for miles, deputies said they found a woman in the back seat with her face covered with blood, her eye swollen and feet bruised and bloody.
The driver, Henry Brock, 29, was arrested on a half-dozen dozen charges, including aggravated battery and false imprisonment.
Recommended Videos
Deputies said Brock ignored all attempts to pull him over and drove recklessly, endangering other motorists. He might have kept going if a citizen in a pickup truck hadn't blocked his path.
Once deputies got Brock out of the vehicle and into custody, they said they found Brock’s victim in the back seat. Her eye was swollen, her feet bleeding and bruised, and her face was covered in blood, deputies said.
Flagler emergency medical services treated the woman, but she refused transport to the hospital. Deputies who interviewed her said she was extremely confused and could not remember what had happened.
While deputies were interviewing her, they said Brock repeatedly yelled from inside his patrol car for her not to answer questions and not allow deputies to photograph her injuries.
According to the Sheriff's Office, surveillance footage from the Old Country Store that shows Brock approach the victim’s vehicle flop onto the hood of the car to prevent her from leaving. The video shows Brock then punching the windshield and breaks it in several places.
When the woman got out of the vehicle and attempted to flee, deputies say Brock grabbed the driver side door and closes it on her, pinning her between the door and the vehicle. When the victim fell to the ground, they said Brock continued beating her with his hands and fists and then tried to put her unconscious body into the back seat.
The Sheriff's Office said Brock has a lengthy criminal record in Flagler County dating back to 2008 for dating violence, battery, domestic battery, simple assault, burglary, assault on a law enforcement office, resisting an officer with violence, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana. He was released in April 2017 after serving two years in state prison.
"I believe his intention was to kill his victim and had a witness not call(ed) us and our deputies not located them, who knows what else may have happened?” Sheriff Rick Staly said. "This is an extremely violent person who has been arrested multiple times."
Brock was charged with domestic aggravated battery, false imprisonment, felony criminal mischief, tampering with a witness, fleeing and eluding, and driving while license suspended. He is currently being held on a $30,500 bond.