INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — An Indian River County father was arrested Wednesday after threatening his daughter with a knife over her choice of boyfriend, authorities said.
The Indian River County Sheriff’s Office arrested Robert Bemesderfer, 66, following a domestic disturbance during which Bemesderfer began shouting his disapproval about his daughter “dating a ‘black man’,” according to the report.
He pulled a knife out and threatened to stab his daughter’s boyfriend if she chose to see the boyfriend again, the daughter told authorities. She also said her father made a striking motion toward her with the knife.
The victim’s mother, who was present at the time, was able to escape the home and call the police. When authorities arrived and entered the house through the front door, the daughter ran toward police “hysterically crying and shouted, ‘He has a knife,’” according to the report.
The daughter told authorities that her father had arrived home from work angry because deputies had interviewed him in reference to a potential theft at his work place, according to the arrest affidavit.
Bemesderfer, of the 500 block of 27th Avenue south of Vero Beach, had been drinking when he came home and began shouting profanities at his daughter and her mother, the report states.
When deputies arrived on scene, they observed the knife and saw Bemesderfer attempt to conceal it under a table, according to the report.
Bemesderfer is being held at the Indian River County Jail in lieu of $3,000 bond, and faces charges of aggravated assault/domestic violence, and a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest without violence.
