Good Samaritan follows car, calls police after noticing woman being beaten

A good Samaritan was driving along Biscayne Drive near the Charlotte/Sarasota County border when he noticed a woman in desperate need of help. His call to law enforcement may have saved her life.

There’s a car stopped in the middle of the road. With the man on the passenger seat beating the crap out of a woman.

That man followed his instincts and called 911 Friday night, alerting law enforcement to a possible domestic battery case.

DISPATCHER: “…and you said he is beating up the lady?”
CALLER: “Yes, he is beating the crap out of her.”

He followed the couple’s car from Biscayne Drive onto Cornelius Boulevard.

CALLER: “The female stopped the car. He’s trying to get her into the driver’s side.”
DISPATCHER: “Is he, like, touching her?”
CALLER: “He slapped her, grabbed her by the hair, drug her by the hair on the ground right now.”

Charlotte County deputies arrived six minutes into the call, tasing then arresting William Tillis of Englewood. Deputies say even after being tased, Tillis continued to resist, threatening one of the responding deputy’s life, attempting to kick out the barred windows of the patrol car and bashing his head against the glass partition.

Deputies say that call may have been the difference between life and death.

“This was the right thing to do,” said Chris Hall, the community affairs specialist for CCSO. “Call 911 and get somebody who’s better equipped  to handle that situation for you.”

If you find yourself in a similar situation, speak up.

“If you see something and it looks wrong, do something, call somebody,” Hall said.

A responding deputy says Tillis tried to kick out the patrol car’s window on the way to the Charlotte County Jail, so the deputy had to call backup on El Jobean Road.

Tillis is charged with battery and resisting an officer and remains in jail on a $22,000 bond.