One day, while on day shift patrol in Zone 2, I received a call from my radio. “Radio 141…” “141, meet with Warrant Deputy S.C. at the Sweetwater State Park entrance on Mt. Vernon Road”. When I arrived, Deputy S.C. said that he had a warrant for a man who lived near the park. He said that he had been trying to get him for a while. S.C. told me that the warrant was for simple battery. I saw where the wife had taken out the warrant. I read all her claims that were written in the warrant. I followed the warrant deputy to a house or trailer about two driveways up from Sweetwater Park. I don’t remember if it was a house or trailer, but I do remember a long front porch on the home.

In the 1970s and into the 1980s, there was no “predominate aggressor” law for domestic complaints. Late into the last century, the arrest powers were limited on domestic complaints. (10-16s).

In my early years of responding to 10-16s, the standard procedure was to maintain peace while one family member would collect their personal belongings and leave. Then it would be, “Radio… 10-8”. That was it. While on a domestic call, if the responding deputy did not actually witness the assault or hear terrorist threats uttered, nothing could be done to an aggressor. It was always a “he said, she said” type thing. Outrageous, right? (More on that later).

S.C. and I arrived at the home and knocked on the door, and a short, very pregnant woman came to the door. She appeared to me to be at least 8 months preggo. Maybe more. Baby bump notwithstanding, the woman was a tiny little thing, maybe 5’2” in heels and a top hat. Early 20s.

S.C. asked for the husband by name, who happened to be standing behind his wife in the shadows. We asked him to step onto the front porch where we could better explain why we were there. This was mainly just to get him out of his house. Always a good move. The husband was told that he was under arrest for simple battery. Upon hearing the charge on the warrant, he bowed up and charged, and a wrestling match quickly ensued. No fists at this point, just wrestling.

I tried to handcuff the husband from behind as S.C. tried to wrestle his arms back towards me from the front. As S.C. and I were trying to handcuff the husband, I started being attacked from behind.

I felt fists pounding on my back. This was way before body armor, so I was feeling it pretty good. I spun around and shoved the attacker away from me with both hands. I yelled “Back Off” and was surprised to see that it was the small, pregnant, battered wife who was attacking me! She had been the one who took out the warrant on her husband who we were trying to arrest!

Warrant deputy S.C. and I finally handcuffed the husband and short hopped him to the back seat of S.C.’s unmarked police car.

To “short hop” was when two deputies would grab an elbow and an armpit with each lifting and move vigorously and quickly. The perp’s feet would barely touch the ground as they were hustled to a location where we could control them. This was usually done to combative people. It was especially helpful in the jail with combative inmates.

S.C. took the husband to jail, and I went back on patrol. I never thought another thing about it.  It was just a part of a normal patrol day.

Well, about two weeks later I was called to the S.O. where I was to meet with a G.B.I. agent. What in the world could this be all about? When I arrived at the S.O., I was told to meet with an agent who was waiting in an interview room in the Detectives Division.

I entered the interview room where the agent was seated. We introduced ourselves as I sat down. He asked if he could turn his cassette recorder on. Now I was feeling curious and sensing that something was definitely “afoot” as Sherlock Holmes would say.

The agent read me my rights and asked if I would talk about the warrant arrest. I still didn’t know what it was about and just said yes. I was then accused of assaulting a pregnant woman during the arrest. “Huh?”

The G.B.I. Agent said that he was responding to a complaint. The small wife had called the G.B.I. office and said that the deputy assaulted her during her husband’s arrest. She claimed that during her husband’s arrest that I punched her in her pregnant stomach and knocked her to the floor of the porch.

I then told the story as I have above. I told of the arrest and the back attack and added that I felt lucky that she was short, because when I spun and shoved, I hit her on her shoulder blades. I told him that no one fell. Not even the arrested husband who was short-hopped to the car. After we said goodbye, I never heard another word about it.

I guess she thought that she had better put on a good show for her husband because she knew he would eventually be coming home after he was released. Hell, he may have even put her up to calling. So there was no need to get upset at her. It was probably just another poor housewife trying to avoid another ass-beating from an asshole who called himself a husband. It’s sad, but we would regularly see the same victims calling for domestic help over and over. We still see it today. I sure wish that would change.