On a Saturday in June, a man in his late 40s was mowing the lawn at the house near DeLand where he lives with his younger brother (age 39). Younger Brother walked out their front door, and Older Brother told him he needed “to help out around the house more.”
That’s not a horrible comment, but somehow a quarrel erupted between them, and Younger Brother threw a can of Monster Energy drink at his sibling, hitting him in the face. Younger Brother tried to tackle Older Brother, and he “hit [Older Brother] twice in the chest.”
Older Brother grabbed a Taser stun gun and zapped Younger Brother twice. After the second zap, Younger Brother got up off his sibling.
Younger Brother “opened up a red folding knife and held it down by his side and stated he was going to stab [Older Brother] as many times as possible.” Understandably enough, Older Brother believed that his life was in danger.
Younger Brother told Older Brother he’d damage his property if his sibling didn’t leave, so Older Brother phoned the Volusia County Communications Center for assistance. Younger Brother then drove away.
When a Volusia County sheriff ’s deputy arrived, one of the people he interviewed was the brothers’ mother. She said she heard her younger son say “he was going to damage all of [Older Brother’s] property” and that “he was going to wait till [Older Brother] went to sleep and was going to kill him.”
The deputy found Younger Brother at his place of work and got his version of events, which included a statement that the siblings’ disagreement only got violent when Older Brother zapped him twice with a Taser stun gun.
Regarding the Monster Energy drink, Younger Brother said he hit Older Brother in the head with it after Older Brother zapped him the first time.
A criminal-records check showed that Younger Brother had been convicted of misdemeanor battery in 2005.
The deputy concluded that Younger Brother was the primary aggressor in the current situation, and arrested him on two felony charges: 1) “battery, second or subsequent, domestic violence” and 2) “aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.”
I bet Younger Brother would rather have mowed the lawn or maybe washed a few dishes, rather than getting sent to the slammer.
— By Keith Allen, based on local police-agency reports. If you have information about a crime, call Crime Stoppers, 1-888-277-TIPS. You could be eligible for a reward.
