A Columbia County deputy has been fired following his Sunday arrest for domestic violence while visiting Savannah with his wife.
David Alexander Brassell, 33, is accused of pushing his wife and not allowing her to call 911 on her cell phone or the hotel phone at Drayton Hotel in Savannah. He remained Monday in the Chatham County Detention Center on charges of simple battery – family violence and obstructing or hindering person making emergency call.
Columbia County Sheriff’s Maj. Steve Morris said they found out about the arrest and made the decision Monday to terminate his employment. He had been with the agency for eight years, and he had last been working on the patrol division.
According to a Savannah police report, Brassell was walking back to the hotel with his wife when they began arguing.
“Mr. Brassell was intoxicated at the time they left Saddle Bags and walked back to the hotel,” the report says. “Mr. Brassell began to argue with Mrs. Brassell and accuse her of cheating on him.”
In the hotel room, Brassell got extremely close to the victim, to the point where their noses were touching. Mrs. Brassell pushed her husband back in an attempt to get him away from her.
That’s when he began to open-hand push on her chest, pushing her into the wall, leaving several small scratches on her chest that she photographed, the report says.
The suspect hung up the phone when he realized his wife was calling 911, and he would not allow her to answer when dispatchers called back.
“After this, Mr. Brassell took her phone and threw it at her,” a report says. “She then grabbed the hotel phone and attempted to call 911. Mr. Brassell did not allow her to complete that phone call, he then proceeded to throw the hotel phone.”
She eventually got away from her husband and called 911. In their report, an officer describes what Deputy Brassell told Savannah police: “Mr. Brassell explained to me that he did not understand why any of this was happening and he did not know why she would call 911. He informed me that they had gone out, he had some alcohol while they were out and he remembers arguing and yelling at her regarding personal problems in their relationship. He briefly explained to me that the reasoning for the argument was that they were married for five years, got a divorce, and have since gotten remarried, and he did not like who she was speaking to during the time they were separated.”
He denied making physical contact with his wife, but officers arrested him as the primary aggressor.
