A 34-year-old Mulberry man is facing a felony charge after Polk County deputies say a dispute with a neighbor turned physical early Sunday morning. Andrew Donald Hueppchen Grapentine was taken into custody at the scene following what authorities describe as an unwanted late-night visit to a neighbor's apartment that escalated into a confrontation with law enforcement.
According to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, deputies were dispatched to an apartment complex in Mulberry at approximately 7:42 a.m. on Sunday, September 20, after a disturbance was reported. Grapentine was arrested the same day, the sheriff's office confirmed. Additional details of what unfolded before deputies arrived were reported by the Tampa Free Press, which described the incident as beginning with a knock at a neighbor's door.
A Rejected Request To 'Hang Out'
Per the same account, Grapentine and the neighbor were not friends and did not know each other well. He reportedly knocked on the neighbor's door and said he wanted to “hang out,” but the neighbor refused the request. Rather than leave it there, the report indicates Grapentine returned to the door and knocked again, prompting deputies to intervene when he came back a second time.
Responding deputies instructed Grapentine to leave the neighbor alone, the outlet's report states. That instruction is where the situation reportedly turned confrontational, setting up the physical exchange that followed with the deputies on scene.
Deputy Contact Leads To Arrest
The Tampa Free Press report states that Grapentine tapped one of the deputies on the arm, after which the deputy told him to stop. He then allegedly grabbed the deputy's arm, an action that led to his arrest at the scene. Deputies took him into custody and transported him to the sheriff's processing center for booking, per the report.
Grapentine now faces battery on a law enforcement officer, a third-degree felony, along with resisting arrest, a first-degree misdemeanor, according to the same reporting. The evidence reviewed does not include an arrest affidavit, booking record, or court docket confirming whether those charges have been formally filed, amended, or resolved in court.
