Palatka man arrested for dragging former girlfriend from her car and choking her

Updated on February 23 with criminal history.

Updated on March 2 with pre-trial detention information.

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Charlie James Shivers III, 39, was arrested early this morning after allegedly pulling a former girlfriend from her car and choking her; the woman was reportedly saved by a man who was walking home from work.

At about 11 p.m., a Gainesville Police Department officer responded to the 1500 block of SE 3rd Avenue, where the victim said she had dated Shivers in the past, but they were no longer together. She said she had been driving home when Shivers cut her off, so she immediately made a U-turn and drove away, but Shivers followed her, and when they both stopped at a red light, he got out, opened her car door, and punched her in the face. Shivers allegedly dragged her out of her car and started choking her, and the victim told the officer that she thought she was going to die.

While Shivers and the victim were fighting in the roadway, a man walked by; he told the officer that when he realized he knew the victim, he ran over and pulled Shivers off of the victim. Shivers reportedly got back into his car and drove away.

The officer reported that the victim had scratches on her arm and bruising on her neck.

The man who intervened reportedly showed the officer a receipt that showed he had clocked out of work just minutes before the incident, and the officer reported that the incident location was between his workplace and his home.

While the first officer was investigating the incident, other officers reportedly found Shivers at a family member’s house, where he allegedly barricaded himself inside the home but eventually came out without incident.

Shivers reportedly told an officer that he had come to Gainesville for a family member’s birthday party, and he was heading home to Palatka when the victim texted him and called him, inviting him to her home. He said that when he drove near her home, she started following him, and then she and a man got out of their vehicle and jumped him. Shivers reportedly could not say where this happened but said it was somewhere near Dee’s Liquor.

Post Miranda, Shivers reportedly repeated his story that the victim had called him to invite him to her house; the officer reported that Shivers gave consent for officers to look through his phone, but they found no evidence that the victim had contacted him. The officer reported that Shivers was unable to provide a consistent timeline of events leading to the altercation.

Shivers is also facing a sworn complaint for stalking the same victim for allegedly calling her phone continuously over the course of several days in January. The officer who investigated that incident reported that he answered one of the phone calls and told the caller that the victim no longer wanted contact with him, and the caller agreed and said he would stop calling, but the phone starting ringing about a minute later with more calls.

Shivers has been charged with burglary of an occupied vehicle, domestic battery by strangulation, and domestic battery. He has three felony convictions (non-violent) and three misdemeanor convictions (one violent); Judge James Colaw ordered him held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s Office to hold him without bail until trial. On March 2, Judge Robert Groeb granted the motion and ordered him held without bail until trial.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.