Gio Valiante, best known for his work as a mental golf game consultant who has appeared frequently on the Golf Channel, was arrested at his Winter Park, Florida, home this week on first-degree misdemeanor battery charges.
According to an incident report filed by the Winter Park Police Department, officers arrived at Valiante’s residence on Dec. 16 at 9:40 a.m. after a phone call from a male caller indicating he had been hit by a female.
Officers reported that upon arrival, Valiante, 48, was waiting outside the residence while his wife Melissa Valiante was inside, in her bedroom closet. Both individuals had visible injuries. Gio had lacerations on his face and red abrasions on both forearms, while Melissa had “a blueish green lump on her right temple and red marks to the right side of her neck,” according to the report.
In a statement to police, Gio said his wife had hit him with a stool and scratched him after an argument over her inability to wake up and get their children ready for the day. The children were not present when officers arrived, shortly after 9:46 a.m.
According to the police report, Gio said that he had brought up the issue in the doorway of his wife’s bedroom, where she picked up a footstool and began to hit him. He told police the scratches on his face “may” have been a result of his wife scratching him while hitting him with the stool.
Melissa’s statement to police indicated that she had been working on a computer in the corner of her bedroom when Gio entered, became “aggressive” and was “scaring” her, the report said. She had taken a short video that showed Gio sitting on a fabric bench at the end of a bed in the room, hands in lap, and using a stern voice to argue about Melissa being out late and unable to wake up, according to the report. In the video, Melissa is heard asking Gio to leave several times but the recording ends abruptly – without showing Gio rising from his seat on the bench, the arresting officer noted.
Melissa said that Gio did get up and move toward her, at which point she used the stool to create distance between the two of them, the report said.
“The Suspect (Gio) did not leave and the Victim (Melissa) utilized the stool to ‘inch’ forward corralling him toward the door,” the report reads. “Victim stated Suspect grabbed the foot stool from her, hitting her with it on the temple (where injury was observed), and discarded the stool, causing Victim to fall onto the sofa.”
Officers reported that a struggle ensued on the sofa as Melissa scratched Gio’s face and kicked him multiple times before he stood up and made the 911 call, stating he had been hit by his wife.
When in custody, Gio Valiante said to himself, “Your life is over there’s no second chance for you here,” according to the report. When the officer asked him about the “Your life is over” comment, Valiante said he was referring to his own career.
The reporting officer stated that while he found Melissa Valiante to have incited physical contact, Gio was the primary aggressor, the report said. Gio Valiante’s arrest was based on probable cause from the officer’s report, and he was first transported to the Winter Park Police Department, then the Orange County Detention Center before being released on his own recognizance on Dec. 17.
Neither party wished to press charges, according to the police report.
An arraignment is set for Jan. 17, 2020 in Orange County for the first-degree misdemeanor charge of battery. In the state of Florida, a midemeanor battery conviction can carry up to a year in jail, up to a year on probation and/or up to $1,000 in fines.
In addition to his appearances on Golf Channel, Valiante has worked with PGA Tour players Matt Kuchar, Jack and Gary Nicklaus, Charles Howell III, David Duval and Davis Love III. He is well known for helping golfers perform under intense pressure.
Valiante is the author of ‘Fearless Golf: Conquering the Mental Game,’ and previously worked as a professor at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, but has not been employed at the college since 2016.