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Police: Florida Man Assaulted Woman For Bizarre Reason

By Chelsea Hoffman
Published on: 08:58 PST, Dec 27, 2016

A Florida man has been arrested after authorities say he assaulted a woman with a piece of wood. Local News 10 reports that 58-year-old Herbert Ray faces at least one charge in association with the incident, which took place on Monday. However, the reason why the alleged assault took place is attracting as much attention as the man’s smiling mugshot.

Police in Pompano Beach say that a Florida woman was assaulted outside of a Publix supermarket on Monday after an altercation with the 58-year-old suspect. A police affidavit claims that Herbert Ray had purchased a pack of cigarettes for the unnamed woman but was demanding that she hand them over to him. When the Florida woman declined to hand over the pack of smokes, Ray allegedly became violent.

Police say the Florida man grabbed a piece of wood that was nearby while the two argued. Enraged that the woman had supposedly broken off their friendship, the Florida man is accused of bashing her at least three times with the crude weapon. Fortunately, the injuries she sustained during the incident weren’t serious, but authorities have noted that she had “significant swelling” on her arms along with bruising to her head.

This isn’t the first time someone has been assaulted over something as seemingly insignificant as a pack of cigarettes. In 2015, two young men were arrested after allegedly beating another man violently. Police say that the man was beaten because he wouldn’t give the duo any cigarettes. Fox News 11 reports that the 52-year-old man was brutally beaten by the 20-year-old and 15-year-old suspects, but the duo felt bad about their actions and later sought help for him. According to police, they thought they may have killed him. Fortunately, they did not.

Earlier this year, an 18-year-old British girl was beaten for a terrifying four hours because she wouldn’t fetch a cigarette for her boyfriend. The young woman has claimed that she believed she was going to die during the hours-long ordeal, during which time she was locked in an apartment and beaten mercilessly. Ultimately, her boyfriend was sentenced to only 21 months of imprisonment.

Also this year, a 60-year-old man was literally beaten to death — and police say it was all over cigarette money. NJ reports that 26-year-old Jonathan Weathers has been charged with first-degree felony homicide in association with the horrifying incident.

This also isn’t the first time a Florida store has been the site of a wood-related assault. Earlier this month, a man reportedly walked into a store and robbed it while wielding a two-by-four piece of wood. He successfully got away with $500 in cash.

As for this latest case, police say that Herbert Ray has been charged with aggravated battery causing bodily harm or disability. The Florida man has also reportedly admitted to assaulting his former lady friend with a piece of wood. He told police that he did it because “she would not give him the cigarettes.” Reports say that the woman ended their friendship — while refusing to hand over the cigarettes — because she did not approve of his alleged activities. The Florida woman alleges that Herbert Ray is a drug dealer.

[Featured Image by Rob Wilson/Shutterstock]

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