An altercation between two men at a Spring Hill Subway sandwich store resulted in one of them being taken to a trauma center and the other charged with aggravated assault.
According to Denise Moloney, public relations manager for the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO), at around 4 p.m., on Sept. 8 deputies responded to a report that a physical altercation was taking place at the Subway restaurant at 14308 Spring Hill Dr. in Spring Hill.
At the scene, deputies spoke with a store employee who told them that two men had engaged in a physical altercation inside the store. According to the employee, the men moved outside and went their separate ways.
After searching the premises, detectives were unable to find anyone who appeared to have been involved in any type of fight.
Later, a woman called the HCSO to report that she had picked up a family member near Anderson Snow Road and Spring Hill Drive. That man appeared to have been severely beaten, was unable to stand, and unable to speak. In response, the woman said that she had driven the man to a local hospital.
The man was later taken to a local trauma center in critical condition, and detectives from the Major Crimes Unit were called in to investigate circumstances surrounding the beating, Moloney said.
A review of the store’s surveillance video revealed that the victim of the beating entered the Subway store shortly before the suspect did, a black man with a shoulder length dreadlocks hairdo.
The two men appeared to be conversing until the suspect began pushing the victim, and the pair became engaged in a physical altercation.
As they continued fighting, the men moved toward the front door and left the store.
Once outside, the victim used a canister of pepper spray to spray the suspect in the face.
The suspect subsequently picked up the victim, “body slammed” him to the ground then stomped on him several times.
Moments later, the suspect identified as 26-year-old Rohan Blackwood, was seen walking away from the Subway store.
After collecting evidence, detectives went to Blackwood’s home where he told investigators that he had fought with the victim over a debt that he owed him.
He also admitted that after the victim sprayed him with pepper spray, he body slammed him to the ground.
Blackwood then declined to discuss the incident further. Detectives arrested Blackwood and booked him into the Hernando County Detention Center on a single charge of aggravated battery/causing bodily harm or disability.
The investigation into the case remains active, Moloney said.
