New video: Man spits on MAGA hat, arrested for battery
VERO BEACH, Fla. (WPEC) — A newly released surveillance video shows the moments when 43-year-old Matthias Ajple allegedly assaulted a 67-year-old man who was wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat at Hurricane Grill & Wings in Vero Beach.
Robert Youngblood, 67, told deputies with the Indian River County Sheriff's Office that he was sitting at the bar with friends at Hurricane Grill Friday night, Oct. 25 wearing his MAGA hat. According to the arrest report, 43-year-old Matthias Ajple approached him and said, "You should go back to Russia, you f------g communist." Apple then slapped the hat, walked around the gate, leaned over it, spit on Youngblood, then left.
Youngblood was able to write down the license plate number of the vehicle Ajple left in, according to the arrest report. Deputies tracked him down at his home.
A deputy spoke to Ajple's wife, who said she told her husband to go tell Youngblood to "go back to Russia" as a joke, but claims she didn't see the altercation, according to the arrest report. The deputy then spoke to Ajple.
Ajple was charged with battery.
