Bloomfield man charged with felony domestic battery in front of children

A Bloomfield man was in court Thursday, charged with felony domestic battery, after a woman and three children all told the same stories about incidents that occurred last Friday and Saturday that resulted in his arrest.

John Robert Wood, Jr.

John Robert Wood, Jr., 31, was arrested late Saturday, August 4, by Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy Heather Wood.

That Saturday night, a woman and three children came to the sheriff’s department around 10:30 p.m. to report a battery she said occurred at her home on East Miller Road, Bloomfield.

Deputy Wood took the report and talked to the woman and each of the children.

Deputy Wood reported the woman said the first incident occurred on Friday when she went outside to make a phone call and her boyfriend, John Wood, followed her, grabbed her phone and shattered it, then grabbed her by the neck and forced her back inside.

The woman alleged that once inside, John Wood threw her against a coffee table then hit her with a chair on her back side. She went into a bedroom to get away and get out of view of the children but he followed her, grabbed her again and told her she could not leave the house.

She allegedly told the deputy that on Saturday morning, when she was in the bathroom, he came in and choked her, threw a lit cigarette at her and put his foot in her face.

She said she grabbed her keys and left with the children but as she was leaving, he threw a rock that cracked her windshield.

Deputy Wood also talked to three children including one teen and two younger children who were all present in the home when the alleged incidents occurred. The teen recounted seeing John Wood grabbing the woman by the neck at a recent graduation party and pushing her across a yard while yelling at her.

Deputy Wood reported a younger child said they saw John Wood tear up mommy’s phone and throw a rock at their car, and the youngest child said they saw John Wood hit mommy with a chair and grab her neck. Deputy Wood’s report notes the youngest child was scared and was crying when recounting what they had witnessed.

Deputy Wood reported the woman had significant bruising to her buttocks, her right ankle had bruising and swelling and the woman was limping. She also had bruising on an arm and told the deputy she felt sore all over. The deputy also checked the car – it had cracks in the front windshield.

Deputy Wood then went to the residence with GCSD Sgt. Bobby Pierce, Deputy Davis Aerne and Bloomfield Deputy Marshal Jordan Allor.

When the deputy spoke to John Wood, he allegedly said, in so many words, nothing had happened and he was getting arrested for something he didn’t do.

John Wood was booked into the Greene County Jail where his bond was set at $4,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. He posted $400 cash, was released on Sunday, August 5, and given a court date.

When he appeared in Greene Superior Court for an initial hearing on Thursday, he was charged with domestic battery committed in the presence of a child less than 16 years old, a Level 6 felony, and he was served with a protective order.