A Greenwood man was arrested after he choked a woman and broke her cellphone after she yelled for her young daughter to call 911 for help, police said.
Dexter Koger, 32, was arrested on charges of domestic battery in the presence of a minor, strangulation and interference with the reporting of a crime after the incident early Sunday morning.
While strangulation means the act of killing by squeezing the throat, Indiana law defines it as intentionally applying pressure to another person’s throat or obstructing their nose or mouth.
A neighbor called police after Koger’s girlfriend went next door for help. The woman told police that she and Koger had argued about their sleeping arrangement in the apartment, and she tried to keep him from becoming angry in front of her 5-year-old daughter, the police report said.
Koger pushed her to the ground and put his hand around her throat, making it hard for her to breathe, the woman told police. She yelled for her daughter to get her phone to call 911, but Koger grabbed it first and broke it, the report said.
He told police he did not choke her and that he broke her phone because he owned it and he didn’t like messages she had been sending, the report said.
Koger, of 680 Woodale Terrace, Apt. 6, was held at the Johnson County jail on $5,000 bond.
