Staff report
ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. – Anna Belle Lewis, 23, was arrested yesterday after authorities said she intentionally struck another vehicle while a two-year-old child was inside.
An Alachua County Sheriff’s deputy became involved after the alleged victim called 911 and reported that Lewis was chasing him after deliberately hitting his vehicle. The deputy said he saw Lewis’s vehicle following the victim’s vehicle “aggressively” and that Lewis “appeared to be chasing him, narrowly missing another collision.” Both vehicles were stopped at the Melrose Fire Station.
According to the deputy’s investigation, the incident began when the victim was at Lewis’s residence visiting the two-year-old child. Lewis reportedly arrived home intoxicated, and the two got into an argument. The victim told the deputy he worried the dispute would become physical, so he picked up the child and ran to his vehicle for safety. As they drove away, he said, Lewis got into her own vehicle, accelerated past them, pulled directly into their path, and slammed on the brakes. The victim said he drove over a fence while trying to avoid Lewis’s vehicle but was unable to avoid being struck by it.
Lewis then allegedly pursued the victim’s vehicle along County Road 219A while the victim was holding the child and speaking with 911 dispatchers.
Witnesses at Lewis’s home reportedly told the deputy the victim had been playing with the child when Lewis arrived and began arguing with him. They said the victim grabbed the child, got into his vehicle, and left, after which Lewis got into her vehicle and chased him down the driveway. The witnesses said they saw the victim’s vehicle hit the fence, but they did not see what happened once the vehicles reached the roadway.
The deputy noted that the victim’s vehicle had pieces of fencing lodged in the grille, as well as damage to the rear quarter panel that appeared to support the victim’s account that Lewis’s vehicle had hit it.
After being read her Miranda rights, Lewis reportedly said she tried to hug the child while she and the victim were arguing, but he picked up the child and ran to his vehicle. She said she followed him because he did not have a car seat and she was concerned for the child’s safety.
Lewis has been charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated child abuse without great bodily harm for intentionally striking the victim’s vehicle, knowing a child was inside. She has no local criminal history, and Judge Joy Danne ordered her held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s Office to hold her without bail until trial; if the judge denies the motion, bail will be set at that hearing.
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.
