- Advertisement -

Palm Bay police have arrested a Breckenridge Circle resident after a juvenile reported being violently grabbed and thrown to the ground while fishing behind a home on Monday evening. The suspect, 46-year-old Wesley Woodson Boyd, remains in custody at the Brevard County Jail.

- Advertisement -

According to the incident report, Officers responded at approximately 6 p.m. on November 24 after receiving a complaint involving a battery on a minor. The juvenile victim told police he had been fishing on the embankment behind a residence and was not on private property when a bald, heavy-set white male with a scruffy beard approached him and began yelling. The report states the man, later identified as Boyd, ordered the boy to leave.

The boy attempted to walk away, but according to the sworn statement, Boyd grabbed him from behind around the neck and struck him in the knee, causing him to fall. Boyd then allegedly took the child’s fishing pole and threw it into the pond.

- Advertisement -

Officers interviewed multiple juvenile witnesses separately. Each provided similar accounts, stating the boy was on the opposite side of the pond when Boyd came out screaming, grabbed him from behind, hit him in the leg and threw him to the ground.

The victim told officers he wished to pursue charges.

- Advertisement -

When contacted by police, Boyd provided his own sworn statement. He admitted to confronting the boy and admitted to taking the fishing pole and throwing it into the lake. Boyd claimed the boy had walked a few feet away after being told to leave and re-cast his line. Boyd said he reached around the boy from behind, took the fishing pole, and tossed it into the water. He stated the boy slipped and fell, denying he intentionally caused the fall. Officers noted in the report that the victim was not on Boyd’s property line when the confrontation occurred.

After reviewing the statements from the victim, witnesses, and Boyd, officers determined Boyd to be the primary aggressor and established probable cause for his arrest. Police charged him with child abuse.

Boyd was booked into the Brevard County Jail at 10:39 p.m. on November 24. As of the latest update, he has not been released.

The investigation remains ongoing.