Lakeland Man Charged With Battery On 16-Year-Old Who Fought With Son

LAKELAND, FL — The Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested a Lakeland man on Tuesday, after a DoorDash food delivery driver reported seeing the man hitting a 16-year-old boy on David Street in Lakeland.

Detectives booked 47-year-old Jarrett Garrett McCabe into the Polk County Jail and charged him with simple battery.

During an interview with a Polk sheriff's detective, McCabe said he was told by a neighbor that two boys had jumped McCabe’s son on Monday.

Detectives determined that McCabe’s son had a fight with one of the boys a few weeks ago and another boy on Monday, and McCabe's son hadn’t been jumped during either fight.

Detectives said on Tuesday McCabe went to the bus stop and waited to see if the boys were going to fight his son again. When he saw the boys get off the bus, he confronted them and told detectives he slapped one of the boys in the face with an open hand, said detectives.

But, according to the DoorDash driver, McCabe punched the boy in the face and twice in the stomach.

“It’s understandable that a dad would be upset about his son getting jumped, but waiting at a bus stop to beat up a kid is not the kind of example you want to be setting for your child," said Polk Sheriff Grady Judd. "Based on this and his criminal history, he clearly has anger-management issues.”

The victim was the child who fought with McCabe’s son a few weeks ago. The boy who was with the victim when McCabe confronted them was the boy who fought with McCabe’s son on Monday.

Following the fight on Monday, the boy and his mother spoke with McCabe and the boy apologized to him for fighting with his son.

McCabe’s criminal history includes prior convictions for second-degree murder, aggravated assault with a weapon and shooting/throwing a deadly missile into a building or vehicle.

He served six years and 11 months in state prison.