KH man faces multiple charges
KEYSTONE HEIGHTS – Multiple criminal charges, including child neglect and battery on a law enforcement officer, have been filed against a 19-year-old Keystone Heights man.
The Monday, June 15, arrest of Seat Matthew Wells came after a series of incidents that included discovering a 2-year-old boy in the back seat with a seat belt partially around his neck, according to a Clay County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.
It ended with Wells, who deputies described as very intoxicated, being restrained on an ambulance gurney after he allegedly fought with deputies and spit blood and saliva in the face of an EMT, the report says.
Wells was initially involved in an incident on State Road 100 at 7:50 a.m. that started with a glass bottle being thrown out his car window. The report says Jeff Cruce, 33, was traveling behind Well’s car on a motorcycle and was struck by some of the glass.
Cruce got the driver to pull over but when he attempted to speak him, the man backed up and struck Cruce in the leg with the rear bumper before speeding off, the report says.
Cruce then drove to a nearby fast food restaurant to call police. As he was talking to a Sheriff’s Office dispatcher about the incident he saw the man’s vehicle across the street at a grocery store.
Witnesses said Wells was stumbling and falling over in the grocery store while the car was left running in the parking lot with the child in the back seat. A woman attempting to help discovered the child had severe rash and bugs flew out of his diaper that needed to be changed, the report says.
Two 20 packs of beer were found in the front passenger seat, the report says.
Deputies arrived and arrested Wells for child neglect, the report says. After deputies arrested Wells, he became violent in the back seat of the patrol car and twice had to be restrained while fighting. EMTs also were called to check his vital signs.
As he was being placed on a gurney he spit into an EMT’s face, prompting them to place a spit hood on his head for their protection, the report says.
The child’s mother later told deputies Wells had taken him the night before and she hadn’t heard from him since then, the report says.
June 17th 2009 - 10:18PM