Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Philip Michael Young, 42, was arrested yesterday after authorities said he repeatedly called his former girlfriend, went to her home and confronted her on a hiking trail.
According to an Alachua County Sheriff’s deputy’s report, the woman received approximately 20 calls from a blocked number after ending her relationship with Young. Around 2 a.m. on October 3, she also heard someone repeatedly knocking on her door, but she did not answer.
The calls from the blocked number continued into the following morning. Later, the woman went for a walk on the San Felasco Hammock Preserve hiking trail at 11101 Millhopper Road.
She told the deputy that, near the trail entrance, she saw Young’s pickup truck slow down and turn around. A short time later, she said, Young confronted her on an isolated section of the trail.
The woman said Young told her he wanted to talk. When she replied that she did not want to speak and tried to return to her vehicle, she said he blocked her path and continued preventing her from getting around him. At one point, she alleged, Young placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her backward.
The woman said she pulled out her phone to text a friend, but Young attempted to take it. She also reported that he grabbed her dog’s leash and pulled the animal’s front paws off the ground for several seconds. When other hikers approached, she shouted that she was going to call police, and Young reportedly backed off.
Young reportedly told the deputy that he had called the woman more than 40 times from a blocked number. He said he woke during the night and called her, then went to her home and knocked on the door around 2 a.m. Young said he was driving to work the next morning when he spotted the woman near the San Felasco Hammock Preserve entrance and stopped to speak with her. He reportedly said he walked backward in front of her and placed his hands on her shoulders to persuade her to talk, but denied pushing her, trying to take her phone or grabbing the dog’s leash.
Young faces charges of stalking and domestic battery. He has two withheld adjudications of guilt stemming from domestic battery and trespassing cases in 2013. Judge Craig DeThomasis ordered Young released on his own recognizance.
Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
