[PHOTO CREDIT: Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
[Original Publish Date: 08/31/20]
CLERMONT, Florida — An argument over a fish sandwich landed a Clermont couple in jail last week, according to arrest reports.
Rita Betancourt Smith, 35, told Clermont Police her husband Carnell Anthonius Smith Jr., 36, got upset with her over a fish sandwich, smashed it in her face, punched her and threw her to the ground several times, according to an arrest affidavit.
However, Carnell Smith, who answered the bedroom door with a bloody hand, told police he returned home on Aug. 24, and asked his wife for something to eat; she offered him a fish sandwich, which he did not want and Rita Smith threw it at him, he told police. He said he threw it back at her and missed, according to the affidavit. He said he tried to make a sandwich and his wife threw several things at him, including a surge protector that broke a glass watch case, possibly cutting his hand, according to the affidavit.
Rita Smith told CPD things calmed down for about an hour and when she went into a room to get some of her things, her husband attacked her trying to, “take her eyes out of her head” and choking her to the point she blacked out.
Rita Smith did have a visible injury to her face and a scratch on her hand, but “I did not see any marks on her neck or eyes, or any bruising or swelling on her body which would have been consistent with the beating she claimed to have taken,” the arresting officer wrote in the affidavit.
A juvenile witnessed some of the altercation, according to the affidavit.
Rita Smith and Carnell Smith were both charged with domestic battery; Rita Smith was released from the Lake County Jail on $1,000 bond and Carnell Smith was released on $4,000 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]
