A homeless man accused of slashing a juvenile’s neck in an unprovoked attack in Daytona Beach Feb. 14 attacked a man with a sledgehammer at a 7-Eleven 10 1/2 hours earlier, according to court records.
But Jermaine Lynn Long, 44, was not arrested in the sledgehammer attack, although police found probable cause to charge him and also found him holding the sledgehammer, records stated. A report stated the victim in that attack did not suffer a “major injury.”
The Daytona Beach Police Department has not yet responded to an email from The News-Journal asking why Long was not arrested and jailed in the sledgehammer incident.
Prosecutors are also reviewing a case from January in which Long was accused of attacking two men. Prosecutors had originally declined to file charges in that case and Long was released from jail on Feb. 10.
Assistant State Attorney Robin Hutcheson filed a motion this week asking a judge to determine that Long is a danger to the community and to keep him locked up behind bars pending his trial.
Long was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon in the slashing attack on the juvenile and remained jailed without bond Wednesday, Feb. 18. Long was charged with aggravated battery in the sledgehammer attack while in jail in the slashing case.
The juvenile suffered a severe injury in the slashing but survived.
A hearing on the prosecutor’s motion is set for 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 19, at the S. James Foxman Justice Center in Daytona Beach.
Homeless man in Daytona Beach slashing was recently released from jail
Long had been released from jail four days before he slashed the youth, according to records. He was arrested in January on two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and battery after he allegedly attacked two men with an 8-foot pole, according to court records. He was also armed with a knife at the time.
Long was released from the Volusia County Branch Jail on Feb. 10 after prosecutors declined to file charges in that case. When asked on Wednesday, Feb. 18, why no charges were filed, State Attorney’s Office spokesperson Haley Harrison responded that the case was now under review.
Long has a Florida criminal history that includes drug possession, theft, failure of a sex offender to properly register, and battery, according to the prosecutor’s motion. Long’s criminal history outside of Florida includes sexual assault of a child, Hutcheson’s motion states.
The motion states in part that “there are no reasonable conditions of release that can protect the community from harm if the defendant is to bond out of custody, assure his presence at trial or assure the integrity of the judicial process.”
Affidavit: Juvenile was on phone when homeless man slashed him
Long attacked the juvenile in the area of 18 S. Ocean Ave. at 10:08 p.m. on Feb. 14, a charging affidavit stated.
According to the affidavit, video shows the juvenile on his phone standing next to a tree as Long circled around him. Long then walked up and slashed the juvenile across the neck, the affidavit stated. He then ran from the scene.
During an interview with police, Long admitted to putting his hands on the juvenile but denied cutting him with an edged weapon. Long then asked to speak to an attorney.
Sledgehammer attack at 7-Eleven in Daytona Beach
About 11:30 a.m. the same day, Daytona Beach Police were called to a 7-Eleven at 35 S. Atlantic Ave. The victim told police Long struck him with a sledgehammer and then chased him into the store, the affidavit stated. The victim positively identified Long, who was outside the store with officers.
A cashier in the 7-Eleven said she was familiar with Long due to having issues with him at the store in the past and his being in the area frequently. The cashier said the victim ran into the 7-Eleven yelling to call police because Long was attacking him, the affidavit stated.
The cashier said Long chased the victim into the store and held the sledgehammer over his shoulder as if he was going to swing it at him, the affidavit stated. A woman in the store yelled, “Please don’t do that in here, don’t bring that in here (sledgehammer), I have my kids with me,” the affidavit stated.
The victim then told Long to come outside.
The cashier told police that before they arrived, the victim told her that he was laying on the side of the store when Long “randomly approached him,” and asked “if they had a problem,” the affidavit stated. The victim said he did not have a problem with Long, according to the cashier’s account.
The victim then said Long hit him in the face with the sledgehammer, the affidavit stated. That’s when he ran into the store.
The victim “did not suffer from any major injuries” but he was “seemingly in fear for his life due to his shaken speech when questioned by law enforcement,” the affidavit stated.
“It is believed that probable cause exist to charge Mr. Long with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon,” the affidavit states.
But the affidavit in the incident notes the arrest date and time as Monday, Feb. 16, at 1 p.m. By then Long was already in jail accused of slashing the juvenile.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Hours before Daytona slashing, attacker hit man with sledgehammer, records show
Reporting by Frank Fernandez, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
