NAPLES, FLA --
A Collier county man is behind bars after deputies say he hit his girlfriend in their apartment off of Gulfstream Drive.
Lance Lester Hicks didn’t stop there. According to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, Hicks’s girlfriend says he killed one of her pet rabbits.
“I guess my neighbor threw a rabbit in a ditch,” said Chris Granger, who has lived next to Hicks for the past couple of years.
Granger saw Hicks being taken away in a deputy’s patrol car Wednesday.
“First person to get arrested on Gulfstream Drive, I’ve seen,” said Granger.
While Granger saw the aftermath, Dulce Vasquez knows the back story. She used to room with Hicks and his girlfriend.
“They cause a lot of trouble. They are always fighting and arguing,” said Vasquez. “I moved in with my mom who lives right next door,” she added.
While Vasquez was in her sister’s room Wednesday night, she heard the couple’s commotion through the wall the units share.
“I heard a lot of banging, a lot of noise coming from the other side,” said Vasquez. “I thought, ‘Oh maybe they are just moving furniture,’ but later in the day, there were so many cops out here,” she added.
When deputies arrived Wednesday, Hick’s girlfriend told them her rabbit was gone. The arrest report documents Hicks acknowledged he killed the rabbit when he tossed the cage into the canal.
The deputy noticed Hick’s girlfriend has visible injuries on her face and took Hicks into custody. But, he didn’t go peacefully. The reports says Hicks spit and threatened the deputy.
“I heard he also threatened to kill a cop,” said Vasquez. “He also threatened to burn the house down and he threatened my mom,” she told 4 In Your Corner.
Vasquez worried about Hicks following through on his threats when he is released.
“Who knows when he gets out, he might do what he says he is going to do,” said Vasquez.
Hicks is still in custody at the Collier county jail. He’s being charged with battery, battery of a law enforcement officer, and threatening to kill and do bodily harm to a law enforcement officer.
Hick’s girlfriend told 4 In Your Corner she plans to move out this coming weekend.
