A Cobb County firefighter is on unpaid leave and in the Fulton County Jail without bond, accused of beating up his legally blind wife at a downtown Atlanta hotel early Sunday.
Cobb fire Lt. Joseph Richard Bennett remained jailed Tuesday on charges of battery and aggravated battery-domestic violence.
Atlanta police called to the Omni Hotel about 2:30 a.m. Sunday by hotel security found Bennett’s wife suffering from a broken nose “as a result of her head being slammed into the ground” and numerous other facial injuries, according to a police incident report.
The victim told officers that when she returned to her room, Bennett “began to accuse her of being gone too long,” then grabbed her by the wrists and threw her to to floor, according to the report.
The victim said that when she tried to get away, “Bennett then grabbed the back of her head and threw her to the ground once again.”
The report says that the victim “then stated that when she hit the floor for the second time, she fell directly on her face, causing lacerations to her lips, a swollen left eye, bruises and abrasions to the right side of her face.”
The victim told officers that it wasn’t the first time her husband had hurt her, and officers noted that they observed a bruise on her arm “that appeared to be only a few days old.”
Bennett was taken into custody and his wife was taken by ambulance to Grady Memorial Hospital for treatment.
Monday, Cobb fire Chief Randy Crider released a statement to Channel 2 Action News, saying that Bennett had been placed on unpaid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
At his first court appearance Monday at the jail, a magistrate judge ordered Bennett to be held without bond until his preliminary hearing on Sept. 8 in Fulton Superior Court.
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