An Alachua County Jail detention officer is on administrative leave after deputies arrested him for domestic violence against another Alachua County Sheriff’s Office employee.
Christopher Hathcock, 33, is accused of pushing a woman he was dating to the ground on Tuesday morning in response to a miscommunication about where she was sleeping, according to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office arrest report. Deputies arrested him the same morning upon arriving to work.
He was released from the Alachua County Jail on his own recognizance within about three hours of being booked, according to the jail.
Hathcock works in the Security Operations Division in the jail, according to a Sheriff’s Office release. As of Thursday morning the Sheriff’s Office is unable to comment due to the ongoing investigation and Florida statute limitations.
The woman told deputies this isn’t the first time he’d abused her and she feared for her life. Deputies wrote that she kept pictures of injuries throughout the years. She said Hathcock recently lost his mother and is having trouble coping.
Deputies said a friend of the victim reported the incident on Tuesday. The victim told deputies she plans on staying with a friend out of fear Hathcock would go to her home.
The woman told deputies she and Hathcock did not live together or have children together, but often spent the night at one another’s houses. She said she spent Monday night at Hathcock’s house and packed her bag before work Tuesday morning to go home that night.
Hathcock started arguing with her about not telling him sooner, according to the arrest report. Not wanting to bicker, the woman said she left for work.
She soon realized she left her phone at Hathcock’s and went back to get it, deputies wrote. As soon as she put her key in the door, Hathcock walked up to her looking upset and said, “Get the f--- out of [my] house.”
She told deputies he put his hand to her face and pushed her, causing her to fall backward to the ground. He tried putting all of her belongings from his house in her car, but she threw them back toward his house in anger.
She told deputies she arrived to work 30 minutes late and was limping from her fall but didn’t have any visible injuries. Hathcock texted her later that morning asking if she was OK. She said when she didn’t respond, he repeatedly texted messages such as “I’m sorry you fell on the ground… very sorry OK,” “I feel terrible” and “I love you, I’m sorry.”
In 2011, an internal investigation was completed on Hathcock, said Art Forgey, Alachua County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson. He was unsure what it was on and The Alligator was unable to obtain a copy in time for publication.
