The ones we love the most.

The ones we love the most.

I was sent to a house to take an assault report. A woman had called and stated that she had been attacked by her husband. She said she had left the home to call us, so I was the only one responding (typically we send two officers to a domestic or fight type call). I thought this would be a simple enough call and I would probably end up telling the woman to take out a warrant on her attacker, as well as a protective order.
I get to the house and am greeted by the callers brother, he tells me that his sister is inside and has her come out to see me. When she comes out I am shocked by what I see. This woman is bleeding from nearly every orifice of her face, her mouth, nose, ears, she even has blood coming down her face from her hairline. Her face is streaked with blood and tears, and her eye is purple and swollen shut already. I ask her what happened.
She told me that her husband had been drinking and began arguing with her, she said he threatened her with a baseball bat, and when she tried to leave he began punching her in the face. She said she managed to get out of the house and into the yard, but he pursued her, caught her and drug her back inside the house by the hair. She said her brother heard the commotion and came to the house and helped her leave. While at her brothers house she was laying in bed in a back room, with the window above her head open. She said suddenly hands came in through the window, and grabbed her by the hair, and her husband actually drug her through the window by the hair and started back across the yard towing her behind him. As I talk to her she continues to swell and bleed, I notice large clumps of her hair are starting to fall out by the roots from where he had been pulling on them. "Where is he now?" I asked. "Next door." she answered, "Does he have a gun?" "No but he has a ball bat, I think he has it on the couch next to him." I start to the house next door expecting he will try to assault me also. I walk into his yard and come up to the front steps, I am about to enter his territory and his comfort zone. My heart begins to speed up.
I walk up the narrow wooden steps, the door is a cheap trailer door, with a diamond shaped window in it. There are no lights on in the house and I don't hear any movement. In the dark through the small window I can make out a shape lying on the couch. I bang on the door as hard as I can. I see the guy sit up, reach underneath the couch and pull out a baseball bat. "WHO IS IT!" He yells drunkenly and a little to aggressively for me. He gets up and starts to the door readying his bat. I take a good position and steel myself for the probable attack.
"SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT!" I yell back "IF YOU BRING THAT BAT TO THE DOOR WITH YOU IT WILL BE THE WORST DAY OF YOUR LIFE!" I yell through the door. All the neighbors in the trailer park have come into their yards to enjoy the show. He slowly returns to the couch and puts the bat back underneath it. He opens the door and staggers onto the porch. "What happened tonight?" I ask him. "That bitch won't leave me alone so I sent her to her brothers." I told him to put his hands behind his back that he is under arrest. His drunken mind pauses as he sizes me up. He decides I will probably make a short day of him and complies. I handcuff him and put him in the back of my car.
I go back next door and begin the arduous task of paperwork, and evidence collection. The whole time every time he thinks I'm not paying attention I hear the jerk kicking my car window. I don't care though If he kicks it out he will just get more charges, his attempts must have been half hearted because he never could get it out.
While transporting this jerk to the jail, he cussed me and told me how many ways he was going to hurt me when I took the cuffs off. I just told him that is fine, they will be off shortly. When I got him to the jail, I told him now was his chance I was taking the cuffs off. I told him he could either fight me or shut his mouth sit down and not say another word. I put the key in and unlocked the cuffs.
The cuffs were off and before I could even get them put up he sat on the bench and stared at the floor. What a little punk, but I always had the opinion if you beat a woman you are not a man. He just proved me right.
For the rest of the evening I pondered relationships and marriage. I wondered how you could do that to someone you had sworn before God to honor, cherish and take care of, in sickness and in health.
conversely this "gentlemen" came to court with a plea of not guilty, and his wife wanted to have the charges dropped. The D.A. informed her that we would not drop the charges and when they showed the defense attorney the evidence I had collected he changed his plea to guilty. Sometimes the good guys do win.