ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A video posted on social media Tuesday night showing a man beating a woman he knew prompted the arrest of the 48-year-old man with four prior convictions, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office said.
According to the arrest report, the video of the beating was posted on Facebook via Snapchat was reported to the Sheriff’s Office. The report stated the victim was continually battered by a man while another person recorded video. The deputy who reviewed the video said the victim was held down and struck multiple times in the face and kicked in the stomach and head as she yelled, “Why are you hurting me?” and asked him to stop.
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The report stated that when a deputy spoke with the victim, she was visibly scared and tried to downplay what had happened to her in the video. The deputy also noted in the report that she covered her injures with makeup.
According to the report, the suspect told deputies he and the woman had gotten into an argument that escalated into violence. He also told authorities he wanted the video recorded and asked another witness to post the video on social media. But people who saw the video complained to law enforcement.
“The Sheriff’s Office doesn’t primarily have time to monitor social media pages, so they depend on the public to give them information such as that so they can take appropriate action,” said News4Jax crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson. “And that’s exactly what they did when they looked at the video.”
The suspect, who deputies identified as Donald Bressette, was charged with battery and booked into jail on a $10,000 bond.