Springfield man arrested for striking senior citizen with hammer, illegal trespassing

By Benjamin Cox on September 6, 2018 at 4:07pm

A Springfield man who has been known to reside in the Jacksonville area was arrested this morning by the Jacksonville Police Department after being identified by a battery victim.

49 year old Troy Cota, of the 4900 block of Old Jacksonville Road in Springfield, was arrested in the early hours of this morning and booked at the county jail at approximately 2 a.m. for Aggravated Battery against a senior citizen and criminal trespassing to land.

Doug Thompson is the Lieutenant of Investigations for the Jacksonville Police Department. Thompson explains why Cota was arrested for each of the two crimes which he allegedly committed.

“He was arrested for striking an individual over the age of 65 with an object. The victim, who was able to identify Cota, was treated on scene for minor injuries that did not require medical transport to hospital. Cota was also arrested because he was on property for which he had previously been issued a letter of no trespass.”

According to the official police report, at approximately 12:30 a.m. the Jacksonville Police Department received a call from an individual who reported to police that he had been struck over the head with an object. A subsequent investigation apparently brought JPD investigators to declare that the victim, who is over the age of 65, took a strike to the head from a hammer, causing an injury. According to research of past records and investigations, a Sergeant with the Jacksonville police department said that Troy Cota was previously issued a letter of no trespass for the Northwood Trailer Court. Despite this letter of no trespass, Northwood is exactly where police found Cota, and arrested him at approximately 1:45 a.m.

Troy Cota remains behind bars.