A Leesburg man was arrested for allegedly hitting his fiancée on their wedding day when she tried to cut up her wedding dress.

According to a Leesburg police report, officers responded to a home around 2 a.m. Thursday.

Before police arrived, the bride-to-be reported that 44-year-old Garry Wayne Bach was the one who hit her and was packing his belongings to leave the scene. Officers were able to reach him on the private driveway to the property, the report said.

Bach stated that he was lying in bed after giving the victim access to the Ring camera at around 1:30 a.m. He was almost asleep when she started yelling at him, saying he cheated on her because she saw a clip of him leaving for the office around 2 a.m. a week earlier. She told him the wedding was canceled, ran to the kitchen, grabbed a knife and went to the bedroom closet to cut up her wedding dress. The report noted that the two were planning to get married that day.

Bach jumped out of bed and went to the closet to intervene when his bride-to-be began cutting up her wedding dress. He ripped the dress from her hand. While he was holding the dress in one hand, his fiancée began hitting him, trying to rip it from his hands, the report said.

She hit him a few times, then began punching herself in the face. Since he was blocking the only access to the closet and bathroom area, he was “pinned” in the closet. She struck about 10 more times, hitting herself above the eyebrows, the report said.

Bach held the dress with his right hand and a protective position with his left hand to keep the woman from hitting herself and him. She yelled loudly at him to hit her before eventually walking away from the door. He then left the area and the victim called police, the report said.

Bach told police that he and his fiancée had been together for about eight months and were living with their children from separate marriages, the report said.

Bach also had redness on his right cheek and what appeared to be a small abrasion just above his mustache on the right side. He gave a written affidavit without any intention of prosecution and received a victim’s rights pamphlet in return. Photographs of him were taken as evidence, the report said.

The officer ended the conversation with Bach and drove to the residence to meet the victim, who was standing in the driveway talking to another officer. Her face was bruised with bruising to her eyebrow area and both cheeks. She also had a small cut on her lip that appeared to have bled in one spot. She was examined by medical personnel but declined transport, the report said.

The victim stated that she and Bach were arguing about her wedding preparations around 2 a.m. She went to the kitchen to get a knife and cut up her wedding dress. When she returned to the bedroom, Bach asked what she had in her pajamas. She then took out the knife and threw it toward the bedroom, away from where they were standing, the report said.

When she tried to go to the bathroom to get to the closet and get the wedding dress, Bach hit her in the face with his hands. When she reached the entrance to the closet, he began to push her away from the dress. He then began to punch her in the face and she fell to the floor in the closet, the report said.

The fiancé responded by hitting Bach in the chest and then punching her in the face, the report said.

The fiancée provided an affidavit declaring intent to prosecute and was given a victim’s rights pamphlet. Photographs of her injuries were taken as evidence, the report said.

Also in the household was the victim’s 17-year-old daughter, who was sleeping during the physical altercation. She was awakened by the commotion. She tried to go back to sleep but heard the woman loudly calling her name, the report said.

The teenager ran into the bedroom and the bathroom. Bach stood in front of his fiancée.

Bach was eventually arrested in handcuffs and placed in the back of a patrol car. The report noted that he was considered the primary aggressor because he escalated the argument by engaging in physical contact with his fiancée while she was attempting to cut up the wedding dress. This, along with the victim’s physical injuries and her affidavit, led to his arrest.

The Michigan native was charged with simple assault (domestic violence) and taken to the Lake County Jail. He was released after posting $2,000 bail.