Police: Man hit woman, shattered phone

A 42-year-old Brown County man has been charged with two misdemeanors after police say he hit a woman and shattered her phone, preventing her from calling the police for help.

Police responded to a home in the 6400 block of Justins Ridge Road on Oct. 4. Dispatch reported that they could hear a man yelling in the background and a woman crying and asking the man why he had hit her, according to a probable cause affidavit by Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Kyle Minor.

Minor and Deputy Colton Magner spoke with the victim, who had called 911. She said she and Douglas Talley had been arguing and that Talley had left in a truck.

She said she did not remember what started the argument; the two had been drinking together. She told police her phone had been shattered during the altercation; she had called 911 using her Apple Watch.

She the deputies she had become emotional and he yelled at her, causing her to get more upset. She went into a bedroom and knocked items off a dresser; then, Talley then hit her, she told police. She said she had trouble remembering what exactly happened. Minor reported seeing bottles on the floor and items thrown everywhere in the bedroom, and that some of the woman’s belongings were on the deck.

The woman had a knot above her right eye and bruises on her arms, the report said. EMS arrived to check her out, but she refused transport to the hospital.

Police told the woman she should leave in case Talley returned, but she was unable to contact anyone due to her phone being shattered and told police she would be OK because she didn’t think he would return.

On Nov. 8, Talley was charged with domestic battery and interference with the reporting of a crime, both Class A misdemeanors.

Stop for improper plate results in drug charges

A 36-year-old Columbus man faces two drug-related misdemeanors in Brown County after he was stopped by police in July for driving a car with an improper license plate.

Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Austin Schonfeld stopped Daniel Meredith for having a rolled-up license plate on July 2, the probable cause affidavit states. During the stop, Schonfeld reported finding less than 30 grams of marijuana in the center console along with a glass smoking pipe that had burnt marijuana residue inside, the affidavit states.

Two misdemeanor charges were officially filed against Meredith on Nov. 13 for possession of marijuana and paraphernalia.