Englewood man arrested for allegedly striking minors

ENGLEWOOD — A grandfather was arrested for allegedly striking two minors after he claimed they bullied his grandchild, according to reports released Wednesday.

Jonathan Eric Broner, 56, was charged with two counts of child abuse without causing great bodily harm.

Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded Sunday after receiving a call for an incident at Tringali Park on North Access Road on Sunday.

According to the arrest report, two minors spoke with deputies about Broner confronting them earlier. They reported knowing the names of both Broner and his two grandchildren, who were younger than the complaining witnesses.

After the grandchildren left the playground, Broner allegedly came up to the other two minors and started asking, “How do you like it when someone bigger picks on you?”

The minors attempted to move away from Broner, but he later returned and struck each of them on the face before leaving again.

The arrest report alleges light bruises were visible on each of the minors’ faces.

Deputies then contacted Broner, who said the minors had been teasing one of his grandchildren and he only verbally responded to them.

When deputies spoke to Broner’s grandchildren, however, they claimed that there was both the verbal bullying from the other kids and that they saw their grandfather physically hit the other two.

Broner was subsequently arrested and taken to Charlotte County Jail, where he was later released on $2,000 bond.

He is scheduled to return to court June 3. An order of no contact has been issued to bar him from contacting the minors or visiting Tringali Park for the duration of his case.