A 43-year-old Port Charlotte man is facing a battery charge after a cyclist told deputies he was knocked to the ground and threatened with his life during a confrontation near Pellam Boulevard and Cochran Boulevard. Christopher Zubrycky was arrested following the altercation, which left two starkly different accounts of who attacked whom.
Deputies Called to a Violent Roadside Clash
Charlotte County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to the area of Pellam Boulevard and Cochran Boulevard after a report of an assault, according to Gulf Coast News and Weather. The victim told deputies he had pulled over on his bicycle to avoid hitting Zubrycky, and that Zubrycky hit him in response, according to the arrest report cited by the outlet.
The victim said Zubrycky then stood over him and told him, “I will kill you.” He also told deputies he used pepper spray on Zubrycky during the encounter, the station's report states. A witness separately told deputies she saw Zubrycky push the victim off his bicycle, and said she saw the victim pull out pepper spray but did not know whether he actually used it, per the same account.
Zubrycky Gives Deputies a Conflicting Account
Zubrycky offered a very different version of events to deputies. He said the victim drove into him and knocked him down, and claimed the victim then pulled out a knife and sprayed pepper spray in his face, according to deputies' account relayed in the report. The two versions of the confrontation directly contradict each other, and the report does not resolve which account is accurate.
Zubrycky was arrested and now faces a charge of battery on a person 65 years or older. Under Florida law, battery occurs when a person intentionally touches or strikes another person against that person's will or intentionally causes bodily harm, according to the Florida Legislature.
Prior Arrest on Unrelated Charges
This is not Zubrycky's first run-in with Charlotte County law enforcement this year. In February, the sheriff's office reported that Christopher Paul Zubrycky, 43, of Port Charlotte, was arrested on charges of disorderly intoxication, trespassing and resisting an officer without violence, according to a police beat item from yoursun.com, which listed no bond for that arrest. That case is unrelated to the bicycle confrontation and does not establish any broader pattern.
