A car rammed another vehicle in a St. Augustine lounge parking lot, trapping a woman against a wall and prompting an emergency response to a gas leak. A relative later reported that the alleged assailant had been arrested.
According to News4JAX, a man and his girlfriend were at a St. Augustine lounge parking lot when he found her with another man. News4JAX also reported that the woman's ex-boyfriend punched her before returning to his vehicle.
The incident was captured on video.
Second Impact Pins Woman Against Building
The man rammed the Jeep again, trapping the woman against a wall. She was hospitalized in stable condition.
After the second collision, Froeber reportedly got out of his vehicle and tried to start another physical altercation, police said. The male victim then drove away, pushing Froeber's car backward as Froeber reversed, and the confrontation ended only when law enforcement arrived at the scene.
Gas Leak Prompts Emergency Response
The crash damaged the Jeep and the building. A vehicle hit part of the lounge, and a gas leak prompted an emergency response.
Froeber told police he intentionally struck the other man's vehicle and knew both the man and the woman were standing nearby when he did it, according to the report. He reportedly said he struck the car to purposely cause damage.
Suspended License, Prior Threats Cited in Report
During the investigation, police discovered that Froeber's driver's license was suspended, which he admitted, according to the arrest report. The report also states that Froeber had previously threatened to kill his girlfriend and her friends, and had made multiple statements about wanting to kill himself.
Froeber faces multiple felony charges, including aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to the St. Augustine Police Department's arrest report. The investigation into the full scope of the incident remains with local authorities.
Florida law also provides a separate route to seek a protective injunction for dating violence. The statute defines dating violence as violence between people who have had a continuing, significant romantic or intimate relationship, and allows a victim to petition when there is reasonable cause to believe another act is imminent. That provision offers relevant legal context for the arrest report’s allegations of earlier threats, but the available account does not say whether anyone sought an injunction. The criteria appear in Florida’s injunction law.
Florida law classifies aggravated battery involving a deadly weapon as a second-degree felony; aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, without intent to kill, is a third-degree felony. The charges listed in the arrest report therefore carry different statutory classifications. The state’s definitions and felony levels are set out in its assault and battery statutes.
