Proud Florida Man Who Chopped Buddy Facing Felony

Matthew Leatham, who has a tattoo of the Sunshine State on his forehead, is facing a felony battery charge after allegedly slicing up a friend with a razor, according to court records.

A witness told cops that Leatham, 24, and the male victim “engaged in a physical altercation after a verbal dispute over a cell phone” last month. During that 4:30 AM confrontation outside a gas station convenience store, the victim said, Leatham used a razor to cut him on his neck and leg.

A surveillance camera recorded Leatham chasing the victim, who is seen “holding a shirt to his neck to stop the bleeding from a slice wound.” The victim sustained “several lacerations to his person,” according to a criminal complaint, which noted that the man was transported to a hospital where the “injury to his neck required staples.”

In a police interview, Leatham reportedly copped to “removing a razor blade from his pocket and cutting the victim,” but claimed he was acting in self-defense. “There were no visible injuries to the defendant to support his claim of being attacked,” police reported.

Leatham was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, a felony, and booked into the Pasco County jail. He was later released on $10,000 bond. A judge has ordered Leatham to have no contact with the victim and has barred him from possessing any weapons.

Leatham pleaded no contest last year to marijuana possession and misuse of the 911 system. In a separate 2021 case, Leatham was busted for allegedly choking his mother. That felony case ended with a deferred prosecution, according to court records.

The recent complaint includes a section for police to describe the defendant’s “scars, marks, tattoos, etc.” An officer wrote, “Several, State of Florida tattoo on face.”