Jury Finds Spence Guilty of Battery on 67-Year-Old Coworker

State Attorney Melissa Nelson announces that Thomas Spence, of Jacksonville, was found guilty by a jury of Battery on a Person 65 Years of Age or Older. Spence now faces a maximum of five years in Florida State Prison and an automatic felony conviction. A sentencing hearing is to be set by the Honorable Mark Borello the week of Nov. 12, 2019.

On April 19, 2018, an officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office responded to a Middleburg hospital and interviewed the victim of a reported battery that had occurred at a Jacksonville business earlier in the day. Spence, a permanent employee of the business, became upset with the victim, a temporary worker, for attempting to help unload a tractor trailer too early. Spence became physical and put the victim in a chokehold, knocked him to the ground, and stayed engaged with the victim until a supervisor pulled Spence off of the victim. In all, the victim’s injuries included a torn rotator cuff, broken ankle, and bruises on his chest, arms and legs. The injuries kept the victim out of work for a year.

The case was investigated by Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and is being prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Octavius Holliday and Rachel England.