A man accused of choking his ex-girlfriend in a stairwell at Eastern Michigan University on Wednesday was taken into custody by police and will be charged with domestic violence.
The suspect is a student of EMU and was trying to obtain personal property from his ex-girlfriend who is also an EMU student; the incident took place in the Walton Residence Hall where both students are residents.
EMU Police Chief Bob Heighes said at one point during the relationship the suspect gave the victim a phone and then wanted to retrieve it after the break-up, but the ex-girlfriend refused to return the property.
“They got into a kind of shoving, pushing match,” Heighes said, “She socked him and then he grabbed her by the throat and threw her down. Then some people saw it and called us.”
Heighes said from the suspect’s statement, the ex-girlfriend was the aggressor and some of what she told police supported that possibility. Heighes said it was a “he-said, she-said” incident, but there were physical signs of injury on the ex-girlfriend. Although the ex-girlfriend struck first, the suspect was the only one arrested and taken into custody.
“When you looked at her, you could clearly see the marks where he had grabbed her,” Heighes said.
Heighes said when police arrived the ex-girlfriend was in the lounge of the residence hall and the suspect was in his dorm room.
Heighes also said that no one else was involved in the incident.
