Inset: William Clark (Leon County Sheriff's Office). Background: The Florida residence where William Clark allegedly tossed hot grease on his roommate while frying ribs (Google Maps).
A Florida man upset with his roommate over unwanted guests allegedly gave him an ultimatum — "either you leave or I'm gonna make you leave" — before throwing hot grease on him after the victim chose to stay, according to police.
William Clark, 54, of Tallahassee, is facing a charge of aggravated battery to cause bodily harm for the Oct. 20 attack, with a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime outlining how he was so upset at the victim that he "refilled the grease in case he had to use it on [the victim] again."
The roommate was recording Clark with his cellphone at the time of the incident, which started with Clark slowly walking over to the man with a pan of grease that he was using "to fry ribs," the affidavit says, noting how police reviewed the video.
"You got this?" the victim apparently asked, right before Clark allegedly threw the grease from the hot pan onto him, causing "serious" burns to the left side of his face, his neck, and upper left arm and leading to his hospitalization.
"The pan Clark is holding is visibly steaming from the heat of the grease," the affidavit says. "The recording begins with [the victim] in the hallway of the residence while Clark is in the kitchen. Clark walks out of the kitchen, into the hallway towards [the victim] and makes the statement, 'Either you leave or I'm gonna make you leave.'"
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.
The roommate was allegedly in a location of the apartment where he had "no mode of retreat," according to police. "Grease was found throughout the residence in the hallway where [the victim] said he was when Clark threw it," the affidavit says. "Grease was also located in a pan on the stove as well."
According to Clark, he and the victim have had "ongoing disputes" about the roommate allowing subjects to come over and use the bathroom and shower. Clark told police the victim was turning the home into a "drug zone," with a friend of theirs confirming to cops that Clark "was upset" over the roommate "having guests over and was yelling" about it prior to the incident, the affidavit says.
Police say Clark gave three different reasons for why he threw the grease.
"Clark first stated during questioning that he threw grease on [the victim] because he started recording and yelling that he was not leaving," the affidavit alleges. "Clark, several minutes later, then said that [the victim] stood up in a 'threatening' manner and 'lunged' at him."
Clark was allegedly "unable to articulate" what made his roommate's actions "threatening" and stated that he "held the pan of hot grease to use it as a weapon" and to "defend himself," according to the affidavit.
The roommate ran from the apartment after being attacked and the police were called. He was transported by emergency helicopter to a local hospital and was said to be undergoing treatment in the ICU burn unit there.
Clark was arrested by the Tallahassee Police Department on Wednesday and booked into the Leon County Jail. He was granted a $10,000 bond and ordered to stay away from the victim, along with wearing a GPS monitoring device. He has entered a plea of not guilty.