DeLand, FL – A man is now behind bars after his battered girlfriend slipped a note to staff at a DeLand veterinary hospital begging for protection against his abuse and his gun.
After spending Thursday bedridden due to a head injury, Jeremy Floyd's 28-year-old girlfriend convinced him to let her bring their dog to DeLand Animal Hospital on Friday afternoon. According to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office (VCSO), 39-year-old Floyd would only allow his girlfriend to go if he came along with a loaded gun.
While on the way to the vet, Floyd held his live-in girlfriend at gunpoint and threatened to kill her and her family. Upon arrival, Floyd's girlfriend managed to slip a note to vet staff that read: "Call the cops. My boyfriend is threatening me. He has a gun. Please don't let him know." A photo of the actual note can be seen below.
(Photo of the note courtesy VCSO)
After reading the note, a staff member called police and officers with the DeLand Police Department responded, detained Floyd, and recovered his gun. When officers learned of the events that lead to the girlfriend's head injury, VCSO deputies were called. The couple lives in the 900 block of South Amelia Avenue, within the jurisdiction of the VCSO. On Wednesday, the girlfriend said Floyd repeatedly beat her, threatened her at gunpoint, and physically prevented her from leaving. The two struggled over the handgun and it went off in the home. The VCSO took the girlfriend to Florida Hospital DeLand for treatment since she was visibly injured. She suffered a head injury, a black eye, and bruised arms. Afterward, she was taken back to the house where deputies located two bullet holes that went through the drywall and into another room. Deputies ultimately arrested Floyd, who is a convicted felon, and charged him with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of ammunition by a convicted felon, and simple battery. Floyd was transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail where he remains with no bail allowed.
