Editor's Note: This is the fifth in a six-part series.

For a look at domestic violence in Kosciusko County, the following examples were taken from incident reports on file at the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department:

A 32-year-old man was charged with battery and criminal recklessness after hitting his wife with his fist and then trying to stab her with a knife. The woman said the violence began when she told him she was leaving because he was bragging about seeing another woman.

The husband also hit his wife with a broom after she hit him once with it. When he tried to stab her with a knife, relatives separated the couple and the husband left the camper, which was parked at Sellers Lake.

In July 1996 a 26-year-old woman was transferred to an out-of-town hospital specializing in head trauma after being battered by her husband. She was suffering from an enclosed head injury, was unable to speak and was partially paralyzed on one side. The woman had suffered a prior head injury in almost the same location.

The victim's memory was spotty, and she did not remember how she received the injury. Her husband offered several stories: that she had gotten drunk at a party and hit her head when she passed out on the bathroom floor; that he argued with her at a friend's trailer and she fell and hit her head as she ran out of the trailer; and that they were arguing in the car when he slammed on the brakes and her head hit the dashboard.

The couple's three children were present when the battery occurred.

While the woman was recuperating in the hospital, her husband visited and threatened to kill her if she talked about what happened.

A 34-year-old Leesburg woman called police in March 1996 after her 16-year-old son pushed her down, hit her head on the floor and punched a hole in the wall. She had told him to go to his room, and he refused.

The son was charged with battery and turned over to the Kosciusko County probation department.

Anger over tax matters caused a 26-year-old man to become so upset with his wife, from whom he had been separated two weeks, that he 'body-slammed' her to the ground, then used his knee to repeatedly hit her in the face and side.

The woman, 22, refused to file charges because she was afraid of what her husband would do if she did. She also refused medical attention.

A 31-year-old woman in Winona Lake told police that during a disagreement with her live-in boyfriend he grabbed her by the neck and tried to choke her. The previous day they had argued and she hit him first. He punched her in the eye with his fist, leaving bruises.

The man was charged with battery.

Another boyfriend was so unhappy with the way his 30-year-old girlfriend was dressed that he yelled at her, punched holes in the bedroom wall, slapped her in the face, punched her in the mouth with his fist, ripped her shirt off and pushed her backward, causing her to fall.

The woman's 14-year-old daughter witnessed the entire incident.

A Burket man turned himself in to police in March 1996, admitting he had struck his wife during an argument. Two hours later his wife, 27, reported to the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department that her husband, 32, had accused her of having an affair and had hit her in the face, arms and ribs seven times.

The woman also said she hit back in self-defense. The husband was arrested and charged with battery. [[In-content Ad]]