A Florida woman punched a sheriff’s deputy repeatedly in the face, bit both arms, spat on her, and ripped a portable radio from her vest as the deputy tried to arrest her, according to Polk County court records.
Deputy Vivianna Ramos-Matarazzo ended up on the ground struggling to control Melanie Elizabeth Davis, 48, outside an Eagle Lake residence on September 23, 2026. When backup arrived, the deputy’s badge, flashlight, and radio were scattered nearby.
The confrontation began with a reported hit-and-run collision near Bomber Road and Pine Street. Ramos-Matarazzo traced Davis’s black Kia Soul to her home, where a dispute involving Davis’s elderly father preceded the attempt to handcuff her.
The Polk County arrest affidavits describe how Davis shoved a rolling chair into her father’s ankles twice during the disturbance and later left the deputy struggling to summon backup without her portable radio.
Radio Contact
Around 6:17 a.m., Ramos-Matarazzo responded to a collision near Bomber Road and Pine Street. The other driver told her Davis had stopped and provided identification but drove away after learning law enforcement was being called, before the drivers completed the required exchange of information.
The other driver had photographed Davis and her vehicle. Using those images and investigative information, Ramos-Matarazzo located the 2015 Kia Soul at an Eagle Lake residence, where she observed front-bumper damage consistent with the photographs. Davis acknowledged involvement in the collision and leaving before deputies arrived.
Inside the residence, Davis became angry during a dispute over opening the door for law enforcement. According to Deputy Justin Heredia’s affidavit, she shoved a rolling chair into the ankles of her father, Sidney Michael Davis, twice. He was over 65, and another household member witnessed the confrontation.
Ramos-Matarazzo heard the commotion while trying to contact Davis. When Davis came outside and the deputy attempted to handcuff her, Davis struck her repeatedly in the face with a closed fist, bit both arms, and spat on her, according to the arrest affidavit.
During the struggle, Davis also grabbed the portable radio attached to Ramos-Matarazzo’s uniform vest, ripped it free, and threw it to the ground. Unable to reach the device, the deputy instructed family members to call emergency services for backup while she tried to maintain control of Davis.
After recovering the radio, Ramos-Matarazzo transmitted her own emergency request and confirmed her location.
Deputy Justin Heredia arrived to find Ramos-Matarazzo on the ground restraining Davis, whose hands were cuffed in front of her body. The deputy’s badge, flashlight, and radio were scattered nearby.
Heredia helped secure Davis’s hands behind her back, brought her to her feet, and placed her in a patrol vehicle. Davis’s father and another household member later provided statements about the rolling-chair incident and described ongoing problems with her behavior.
Prosecutors charged Davis with leaving the scene of a property-damage crash, battery on a person 65 or older, resisting an officer with and without violence, and depriving an officer of means of protection or communication. Her bond was set at $27,000, and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office inmate record lists her in custody at the Central County Jail.
Hoe Lotta Problems
On February 11, 2025, Davis went to a man’s Frostproof home around 3 a.m. after he canceled plans to spend time with her. The man described Davis as a friend with whom he had previously had sex, although he denied they had ever been in a dating relationship.
Davis was unhappy about the canceled plans and also wanted repayment for a crossbow she had purchased for him several days earlier, according to the arrest affidavit. She arrived at the property yelling from outside the fence and demanding money.
When the man refused to let her inside, Davis climbed over the fence, damaging a gate investigators valued at approximately $50, and pushed through his door.
Once inside, she demanded repayment and wanted to see whether the man had anyone else in the house. He repeatedly told her to leave, but she refused and began punching him.
During the confrontation, Davis picked up a garden hoe and struck his left arm with the blade, leaving a laceration approximately an inch and a half long. Another woman drove the injured man to AdventHealth in Sebring, where he received treatment before reporting the incident to deputies.
The man also told investigators about an argument three days earlier, when Davis accused him of having her keys and struck him in the back of the head with a lock.
When deputies interviewed Davis, she acknowledged climbing the fence, entering the residence, and becoming involved in a physical altercation. She also admitted striking the man with an object, although she did not identify it as the garden hoe.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested Davis on charges including armed burglary with battery, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, simple battery, and criminal mischief.
In October 2025, Davis was convicted of the lesser offenses of felony armed trespass and misdemeanor battery and sentenced to time served on both counts. Sheriff’s records show she spent approximately eight months in jail before her October 16 release.
Years of Arrests and Convictions
Polk County Sheriff’s Office records document 28 booking entries associated with Davis dating back to August 1997, when she was 19.
In December 2018, deputies arrested her after a person over 65 reported that Davis grabbed and pushed them during a confrontation at a Lakeland residence, leaving a minor abrasion on the person’s hand. Prosecutors dismissed the felony battery charge in April 2019 after the victim signed a waiver of prosecution, repeatedly requested dismissal, and declined to cooperate.
Another arrest followed in March 2024, this time for domestic violence battery on a person over 65. Davis was released on a $5,000 surety bond.
Her earlier convictions include felony possession of methamphetamine and introducing contraband into a county detention facility. She pleaded guilty to both in July 2004 and received concurrent state prison sentences of one year and one day, with credit for 59 days already served.
All parties are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.