Officials: Crestview man imprisons woman and assaults her with metal baseball bat

A Crestview man is accused of imprisoning a woman and hitting her in the back of the head with a metal baseball bat.

Franklyn Ciprian Applewhite, 54, is charged with false imprisonment, aggravated battery and aggravated assault.

The woman, with whom Applewhite has a relationship, told police a Saturday night argument between the two turned violent when Applewhite dragged her into a bedroom where he kicked her in the ribs and punched her in the back of the head, a police report states.

“He then picked up two kitchen knives, one large and one small, and began threatening her, stating, ‘one of us is gonna die tonight,’” the report continues. “Mr. Applewhite then picked up a baseball bat and struck (her) in the back of the head and swung at her with a construction level.”

Applewhite refused to allow the woman to leave the room, pushed a wooden desk against the door and would not let her use her cell phone, the report states.

According to the woman’s account of the incident filed in the report, she laid down on the floor of the bedroom and waited for Applewhite to fall asleep. After a couple of hours, Applewhite began to snore and the woman moved the desk far enough away from the door to escape, the report continues. She went directly to the police department.

Police entered Applewhite’s residence.

“A desk was pushed against the door and was sitting diagonally against the door in the room where Mr. Applewhite was found,” the report states. “…Additionally, a metal baseball bat, orange plastic construction level, a piece of hair weave which matched that worn by (the woman),” were found in the bedroom, according to the report.

Applewhite initially denied anything had happened but later told officers the woman began arguing with him and that he went into the bedroom alone and pushed the desk against the door to keep her out, the report states.

Applewhite is in custody at the Okaloosa County Jail and is scheduled for a Jan. 5 court appearance.