SYRACUSE – A Syracuse man was arrested Thursday for domestic battery and resisting law enforcement, both Class A misdemeanors, and strangulation, a level 6 felony. Dustin Will Wright, 25, of 8899 E. Black Point Road, Apt. B, Syracuse, was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail Thursday on a $6,250 bond. According to the probable cause affidavit filed by the Kosciusko County Prosecutor’s Office, on June 30 Kosciusko County dispatch received a 911 hang-up call from 8899 E. Black Point Road, Apt. B, Syracuse. Dispatch attempted to call the 911 hang-up caller back and received no answer. Dispatch then sent a text message to the phone and received a text message back that stated “help me.” Syracuse Police Officer Jason Longmire arrived and spoke with a female victim who advised she had been battered by her boyfriend, identified as Wright, and was afraid to call 911 because he was still in the residence. The victim told Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department officer Joel Popenfoose she had been living with Wright for more than six months and the two got in an argument. Wright became angry and allegedly threw her into the kitchen wall and she fell to the floor. She escaped to the bedroom where he threw her on the bed, then yanked her off the bed and she fell to the floor on her back. Wright got on top of her and squeezed her neck until she believed she was going to pass out and could not breathe. Popenfoose observed red marks on the neck, upper chest area, marks on the arm and a bite mark on the hand of the victim. She advised Wright tried to bite her as she was trying to fight him off. Popenfoose spoke with Wright and placed him under arrest for domestic battery and strangulation. Wright refused to cooperate or walk to the patrol vehicle and had to be assisted on both counts.
