A 44-year-old man was arrested early Friday morning after police said he battered a woman at a residence on Seymour’s near east side.
Kevin Lee Sheriff of Seymour faces Level 6 felony charges of domestic battery in the presence of a child and strangulation after an investigation initiated by Seymour police at about 3:30 a.m. when dispatchers received a 911 call.
Officers responding to the residence in the 100 block of South O’Brien Street reported that they could hear a woman telling dispatchers her address, Police Chief Bill Abbott said.
Officer Crystal Schapson spoke to the woman who was upset and had been battered, Abbott said.
The woman told investigator she and Sheriff had been arguing when Sheriff began using his body to shove her against a wall.
He then pinned her against the wall and put his hands around her neck, according to the probable cause affidavit signed by Schapson and filed in Jackson Circuit Court in Brownstown.
The woman, who had bruising on her arms and neck, told Schapson that Sheriff choked her until she lost consciousness. She woke a few seconds later and attempted to call police, but Sheriff knocked the phone from her hands multiple times, according to court documents.
The woman then went outside the residence, and Sheriff followed her before throwing a potted plant toward her.
Sheriff took off on foot south of the residence when he saw police arrive, Schapson wrote.
Cpl. Jacob Florine assisted at the scene and found Sheriff near the former Indiana State Police post in the 700 block of East Tipton Street.
He told police the woman was aggressive multiple times and denied placing his hands on her and knocking the phone from her hands, according to court records.
Schapson said Sheriff was visibly intoxicated as he had slurred speech, could not stand without swaying and had red, watery eyes. A portable breath test showed he had a blood alcohol content of 0.182%, according to court documents.
Sheriff was booked into the Jackson County Jail in Brownstown at 4:10 a.m. Friday without bond pending his initial court appearance, which had not been scheduled as of press time.
A Level 6 felony is punishable between six months and two and a half years upon conviction.