[PHOTO CREDIT: Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
[Original Publish Date: 05/06/20]
MASCOTTE, Florida — A woman is safe after her ex-boyfriend allegedly chased her down Bible Camp Road, dragged her out of her car, kidnapped her, took her to Polk County and beat her.
According to an arrest affidavit, Brian Keith Hyatt, 35, chased his ex-girlfriend down Bible Camp Road in Groveland around 1 a.m. Sunday until the woman stopped her car due to mechanical issues. Hyatt dragged her out of the car, shoved her in his truck and drove her to a motel in Haines City where he repeatedly battered her.
Hyatt brought the woman back to Lake County around 1 p.m., driving erratically and causing her to fear for her life, she told a Lake County Sheriff’s deputy. Hyatt repeatedly told her he was going to hit another vehicle head-on as he swerved towards them on the roadway. The erratic driving was called in by a driver in Groveland and Groveland Police responded and followed a truck matching the description of the erratic driver, but it did not drive erratically in front of Groveland Police, the arresting deputy noted in the affidavit. Hyatt pushed the woman’s head down into his lap so she could not flag down the officer behind them, according to the affidavit.
Hyatt then lit a receipt and put it on top of the victim’s phone but she was able to remove it before it was damaged. He struck the woman with items from the dashboard and slammed her head against the dash multiple times, she told LCSO. Shortly before 1:30 p.m., Hyatt threw the victim out at an abandoned house on Lake Emma Road and she contacted LCSO.
Photographs were taken of the victim’s multiple scratches and bruises and her face was tender, the affidavit states. Multiple LCSO deputies responded to Hyatt’s last known address on Knight Lake Road in Mascotte and found him hiding in a vehicle. Hyatt was taken into custody and stated the victim attacked him when he refused to allow her in his truck with her “meth pipe.” Hyatt was charged with domestic kidnapping, battery, two counts of depriving use of 9-1-1, burglary with battery , aggravated battery, resisting an officer without violence and violation of a no-contact order. He is being held in the Lake County Jail on no bond.
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Our Editor-in-Chief, Marilyn M. Aciego, began writing for Lake Legal News in 2010. Born and raised in Lake County, she is a graduate of Umatilla High School and Lake-Sumter State College. She started her journalism career at LSSC, where she was editor of both student publications, The Angler and The Odyssey. Her professional career began at the Daily Commercial in 2004 where she covered cops and courts the majority of her time there until she left in 2009. Currently, along with being Editor-in-Chief of Lake Legal News, she is the Florida bureau chief for an international media organization. She has made more than two dozen appearances on live national television, including Nancy Grace and the Greta Van Susteren show, along with her appearance on Evil Twins. Contact her with breaking news, tips, and feedback by sending an e-mail to 352Tips@gmail.com. You can also contact us on our Facebook page — and make sure you “Like” and “Follow us” there. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
