BUNNELL, FL – A 29-year-old Bunnell resident with a history of domestic violence charges is now locked up for trying to choke out a family member during an argument which started over a cigarette. The violent attack ended with the suspect and victim injured from a knife that was used to stop the attack.
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) took Andrew Michael Buckley into custody on Thursday (August 25, 2022) at a home on Shady Lane in the Mondex, shortly after the attack was reported to Flagler County emergency dispatchers.
FCSO deputies responded to a residence on Forest Park Street just before 6:00 a.m. Thursday, shortly after the 911 call came in. They met with the victim, who told them that he and Buckley got into an argument over Buckley using a toaster oven to light a cigarette.
That verbal argument turned physical when Buckley bumped the victim in the chest, causing him to fall to the floor. Buckley then jumped on top of the victim and proceeded to punch the victim repeatedly, bite his neck and wrap an arm around the victim’s throat to impede his breathing.
Another family member – a female – saw the altercation and pleaded for Buckley to stop. When he did not, that family member tried to pull Buckley off the victim physically. When that didn’t work, she grabbed a knife from the kitchen and stabbed Buckley in the back. The victim was also stabbed in the shoulder with that knife in the process and is expected to make a full recovery.
When speaking to deputies afterward, the female family member said she was afraid that Buckley was going to kill the male family member if she didn’t intervene. She also told investigators that Buckley is a known drug user and had been awake for several days before the incident. Buckley fled the home before deputies arrived, but was tracked to a Shady Lane home by K-9 deputies. Buckley eventually exited the home and was arrested.
“This guy has been booked at the Green Roof Inn six times since January 2021,” said Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly. “Four of those bookings are domestic violence related. He needs to get off drugs and control his anger. I commend the family member for stopping the attack before someone was killed or seriously injured.”
Buckley was treated and released from Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach and then booked into jail.
FCSO
