A husband was arrested following a violent altercation with his estranged wife that began while she was apartment hunting and ended at their home at Lakeside Landings in Oxford.
Charles Emitt Brown II, 39, is facing a felony charge of domestic battery by strangulation following his arrest Wednesday evening.
According to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department, the incident began at The Mark apartments. Brown’s wife, who is in the process of separating from him after 20 years of marriage, was looking at an apartment with her family. Brown tracked her location using his cell phone and showed up at the property, sparking a heated argument.
The woman’s brother-in-law attempted to intervene, but Brown struck him, resulting in a physical altercation. As family members separated the two men, Brown made a hand gesture resembling a firearm, told his brother-in-law, “I got something for you,” and drove off. Fearing he was heading back to their residence at 5394 Compass Pointe to retrieve a weapon while their two children were home, the wife immediately drove after him.
The estranged couple arrived at the Lakeside Landings residence at roughly the same time. As the woman tried to enter the home, Brown grabbed her by the neck, shoved her against a wall, and choked her for approximately 10 seconds, leaving her unable to breathe. He then yelled, “Get your stuff and get out,” before releasing her.
The woman rushed inside, grabbed her children, and hurried them to her vehicle. As they were leaving, she told police she saw Brown holding a handgun, though he did not point it at anyone or make any direct threats with it.
Officers arrived shortly after and detained a highly agitated Brown. After being read his Miranda warning, Brown denied choking his wife but admitted to retrieving his handgun because he thought the brother-in-law might come to the house to continue the fight. The brother-in-law declined to press charges for the initial physical altercation.
Brown was taken into custody and booked at the Sumter County Detention Center where he was initially held without bond.