A rural Bloomfield man, arrested last Saturday on two warrants, spent his Christmas holiday in jail. In one case, he’s accused of domestic battery in front of children, and in another case, of leading an officer on a chase through the countryside in an effort to avoid a traffic stop.

Samuel Edward Summerville, 29, was taken into custody and booked in to the Greene County Jail around 9 p.m. last Saturday, December 22, by Greene County Sheriff’s Det. Shawn Cullison.

There were two warrants out for Summerville’s arrest.

In one, GCSD Deputy David Elmore began an investigation on Wednesday, December 12, when he headed to Hasler Junction off State Road 58 to meet with a woman who had gone there with her children because, she said, her husband, Samuel Summerville, was allegedly destroying their house.

Deputy Elmore said when he arrived, she told him when she returned home after picking up one of the children from a school function, Summerville started yelling and breaking things. She said she told him she was going to call the police and he then picked her up and threw her on the couch, took her cell phone and smashed it so she couldn’t call 911. She said she attempted to leave with her three children but Summerville took her keys. When a member of Summerville’s family showed up, Summerville gave her keys back and she left, went to the gas station and called police.

Elmore also talked to two of the children who confirmed the woman’s story and said they saw Summerville pick their mother up and throw her, smash her phone and take her keys.

In a probable cause affidavit, Elmore noted that the woman was 5’ 4” and weighed approximately 125 pounds while Summerville was 6’ 2” and weighed approximately 230 pounds. Elmore also noted the woman was crying and shaking while he was talking to her.

A criminal case was filed against Summerville the next day and a warrant issued for his arrest on preliminary charges of domestic battery committed in the presence of a child less than 16 years old, a Level 6 felony, and interference with the reporting of a crime, a Class A misdemeanor.

In another case, a second warrant was issued for Summerville’s arrest on Tuesday, December 18. He had been scheduled to appear in court the day before, but he was a no show.

In that case, Summerville, the driver of a pickup truck headed out of Bloomfield, allegedly tried to avoid a traffic stop by fleeing on Sunday, October 28. Deputy Marshal Jordan Allor of the Bloomfield Police Department had attempted to stop Summerville on Spring Street in Bloomfield when he noticed Summerville’s truck’s license plate was out.

A chase ensued, with Officer Allor following him with lights and sirens through the countryside down one road then another and another. Summerville got away for a while but later that night, five officers showed up at his house. On his way to jail, he said he thought the patrol vehicle would have been faster than what it was.

Summerville was charged with:

Resisting law enforcement with a vehicle, a Level 6 felony,
Operating a vehicle after being a habitual traffic offender, a Level 6 felony,
Reckless driving at an unreasonable high speed that endangers safety, a Class C misdemeanor, and
False reporting, a Class B misdemeanor.

In the domestic case, his bond is set at $5,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. In the traffic stop chase case, his bond is set at $10,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed.

As of Wednesday afternoon, December 26, he was still in jail.