Deputies: Central Florida suspect beat man with golf club in argument over walking on pathway
LADY LAKE, Florida -- A suspect was released on bond after being accused of hitting another man with a golf club in Lake County.
Eddie Orobitg was arrested on charges of aggravated battery after the Sunday incident at Harbor Hills Golf Course in Lady Lake.
"It was violent. It was actually very violent," said Joseph Sivak, the alleged victim in the case. "I didn't see much of it coming. I didn't expect it. We were just out on our walk."
Sivak says he was walking with his wife through the Harbor Hills Golf Course in his neighborhood on Sunday when he heard someone coming up behind him.
"Screaming and swearing very belligerently," Sivak said. "A lot of swearing and F-bombs about 'you don't belong on the golf course. You're not allowed to walk on it.'"
And from there, Lt. John Herrell with the Lake County Sheriff's Office said things escalated.
"The defendant used his golf club to beat this guy down," Herrell said.
Sivak says he suffered fractures in his face and three broken ribs.
"Probably forty stitches, mostly in my ear," he said. "It was like the lobe was kind of falling off."
The suspected attacker Orobitg was ultimately arrested on the golf course.
"This is unbelievable," he could be heard saying in a deputy's body camera video.
According to the arrest report, Orobitg and his son told deputies Sivak got into his face. Orobitg also said Sivak hit him with his water bottle and tried to take his clubs. But Orobitg's son said his father spat in Sivak's face first.
"I got hit with a golf club a couple times. Spit in my face," Sivak said. "To have a different account of what happened, no. That doesn't surprise me in the least."
Deputies say they took statements from Sivak's wife and Orobitg's son and looked at the injuries to help them figure out what went down. They say Orobitg had a cut on his hand. Sivak had to go to the hospital. He says he has months of recovery ahead of him.
"It feels very … you're not safe in your own, you know quiet, safe neighborhood," Sivak said. "From people around the corner living two, three, four blocks away."