Michael J. Williams, 43, Marion, is charged with felony strangulation, misdemeanor battery and disorderly conduct as acts of domestic abuse.
At approximately 11:15 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 5, Deputy Bryan Strobusch was dispatched to a home in Marion. He met with Williams, who was waiting in the garage to speak to an officer.
According to the criminal complaint, Williams had abrasions on his knuckles and his hand. He accused his wife of hitting him first and biting him.
Strobusch went inside the house to check on Williams’ wife. He found the master bedroom on the first floor to be in disarray. It appeared that the mattress had been pushed off the frame. There was no one on the first floor.
Strobusch then went upstairs, announcing that he was a deputy. He found a locked closet door. When he knocked, he heard a child ask if it was her father, the complaint says.
When the door was opened, Strobusch saw a small child sitting on a woman’s lap. He reported that the woman had a large welt on her forehead and her left eye was swollen and red.
The woman said she and Williams had been at a tavern. When she returned from the restroom, Williams had left, so she walked home and went to bed.
Williams allegedly came into the bedroom holding their 2-year-old child and began yelling at her. He then put down the child and began punching and choking her, the complaint says.
When Strobusch asked Williams about the woman’s bruises, Williams reportedly accused her of giving them to herself so she could blame him for hurting her.