Keys man strips naked, attacks women he met at bar, deputies say

Joseph McNeal, 49, faces battery charges after attack on Sugarloaf Key

Joseph McNeal is accused of stripping naked and attacking two women at his Sugarloaf Key home.

SUGARLOAF KEY, Fla. – A Florida Keys man took off all his clothes before attacking two women he met at a bar in Key West, deputies said.

Joseph McNeal, 49, of Sugarloaf Key, was arrested Thursday afternoon on charges of battery and resisting arrest without violence.

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Monroe County Sheriff's Office spokesman Adam Linhardt said McNeal met the women at a bar on Duval Street. After offering to drive them back to their hotel, McNeal asked if he could stop at his house first and check on his ill dog.

When they got to McNeal's home on Driftwood Lane, they started drinking shots of alcohol, Linhardt said.

"At some point, McNeal left their company and reappeared fully nude," Linhardt said.

As the women tried to leave, McNeal blocked the door and a physical altercation ensued, Linhardt said.

The women told deputies that McNeal placed his hands around one of the women's throats and pushed her into a television, breaking it. The women said they then tried to escape through the porch, but McNeal pushed one of them down the porch stairs, causing her to land on the concrete below.

Deputies said the women hid in the mangroves until they arrived.

When deputies knocked on the door of McNeal's home, nobody answered. Deputies said blankets had been placed over all the windows so that nobody could see inside.

One of the women had bruises on her throat, chest and arms, while the other complained of lower back and hip pain. They declined medical attention.

Both women identified McNeal as their attacker.