VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — A Volusia County deputy is recovering from injuries he suffered when he was attacked by a man in a Daytona Beach courtroom.
Officials said 29-year-old Gregory Gentle was waiting to go in front of a judge Thursday for a previous charge of resisting police with violence. That's when witnesses said he grabbed the bailiff and punched him in the face.
Gentle's parents said they are shocked their son attacked a deputy inside the justice center right before his court hearing. They said he may have snapped because he felt he was innocent of the crime that sent him to the courtroom.
"He had his head down and the sheriff told him, 'No sleeping in here.' (Gregory) said, 'I'm not sleeping in here.' (Then) he got up and walked out," Gentle's father Gregory Stokes said.
One witness told WFTV Gentle lunged at Deputy Roger Hubbell when the deputy called him back into the courtroom. Gentle then put the deputy in a bear hold and threw him against the wall.
Hubbell was left with a broken thumb, cut lip, and several other abrasions.
According to Gentle's family, his problems with the law all stem from an arrest weeks ago for resisting police with violence after they said officers thought he was a burglary suspect and took him down outside of his house.
Reports show Gentle was heard saying, "Ya'll show up to my house and do it to me, so I did it to you."
"I believe that's what...set him off," Stokes said.
Hubbell was released from Halifax Medical Center Thursday night.
Video of the incident taken from the cameras inside the courtroom may be released Friday.
WFTV
