Former MMA fighter charged with abusing and raping pregnant girlfriend in Edgewater

A former mixed martial arts fighter from Edgewater was arrested Thursday morning on charges of beating and raping his pregnant girlfriend, police said.

The 36-year-old victim went to Halifax Health Medical Center to undergo a rape exam; the allegation is currently under investigation, police said.

According to court records, Edgewater police officers arrested 44-year-old Richard “Cleat” Crunkilton Jr. at 2:24 a.m. Thursday at his Magnolia Street home and charged him with aggravated assault on a pregnant woman.

Crunkilton was being held at the Volusia County Branch Jail on $5,000 bail Thursday.

“You’re not moving out”

Edgewater police said Crunkilton’s girlfriend, who is three months pregnant, called them Thursday and said Crunkilton hit her as she was packing her things to leave him. The woman and Crunkilton had been living together for six months, police said.

A police report states that Crunkilton came to the house, grabbed the woman by the shoulders from behind, pulled her backwards out of the bathroom and pushed her into a bed.

“You’re not moving out. You’re not packing your things. You’re not going anywhere,” Crunkilton told the woman, according to police.

The officers found a bruise on the woman’s left arm and back, the report said.

The woman also stated that Crunkilton had sex with her against her will, the police report said.

Who is Richard “Cleat” Crunkilton?

According to online reports, Crunkilton began his professional MMA career in 1999 in New Smyrna Beach. In 2002, he signed with World Extreme Cagefighting and quickly moved to the UFC in 2003.

He faced Hermes Franca at UFC 42 in Miami and lost by unanimous decision. The organization released him before he could fight again and he returned to World Extreme Cagefighting.

He fought a total of 23 fights, of which he won 19 – eight by KO, seven by submission and four by decision. He fought in the lightweight division.

This article originally appeared in the Daytona Beach News-Journal: Former UFC fighter charged with abusing and raping pregnant girlfriend