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Woman Escapes Abusive Boyfriend With Gun By Slipping Note To Dog's Veterinarian, Cops Say
“Call the cops. My boyfriend is threatening me. He has a gun,” Carolyn Reichle’s note said.
A Florida woman escaped her threatening, jealous boyfriend after convincing him their dog was ill and needed to be taken to the vet, where she then passed a note pleading for help, she told police.
“Call the cops. My boyfriend is threatening me. He has a gun. Please don’t let him know,” Carolyn Reichle’s note said, according to the Volusia County Sherriff’s office, which released a photograph of the note and an account of the woman’s ordeal Friday.
After getting the note, staff at the Deland animal hospital acted quickly and called police, who rescued Reichle. Cops arrested her boyfriend, Jeremy Floyd, and seized his fully-loaded 9mm handgun, the sheriff’s office said.
Reichle was “visibly upset and crying” when police arrived, with a swollen left eye, and “covered in bruises and lacerations,” according to a police report obtained by Oxygen.com.
“Thank God for the courage of this woman, the quick action of staff at DeLand Animal Hospital and the work of our deputies and DeLand PD!,” Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood tweeted after the arrest.
The trouble began last Wednesday at the house the two share in Deland, Reichle told cops. Floyd got angry at her because he thought she was "flirting with other men," according to the police report.
"Jeremy advised he made a joke while the two were inside of the residence that he was going to call his friends over to run a train on her," the police report reads.
She dove out the window in the room and tried to run away, according to the report, but Floyd chased her down, grabbed her by the hair, and dragged her back into the house.
Inside the house, Floyd retrieved a 9mm semi-automatic handgun and threatened to kill Reichle, she said to police. The two then struggled for control of the handgun, which resulted in two rounds being fired. According to the report, no one was hit by the bullets.
Reichle sustained a head injury during the beating and spent all day in bed Thursday, according to cops. On Friday, she managed to convince Floyd that her dog was not well and that she needed to take the animal to the vet. Floyd insisted on accompanying her, armed with his 9mm.
On the way to the vet, Floyd pointed the gun at her and threatened to kill her and her family, according to the report. Once they arrived at the vet, she said she was going to use the bathroom, leaving Floyd with the dog, and she slipped her note to a worker.
Reichle declined to file charges against Floyd, but police charged with multiple felony charges, including aggravated assault with a weapon, false imprisonment, battery and illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
[Photos: Volusia County Sheriff's Department]
