Switz City man charged with four felonies in domestic incident

A Switz City man was arrested early Wednesday after deputies responded to a domestic incident that allegedly involved threats of torture, strangulation and criminal confinement.

Mark Dickinson

Mark Emmet Dickinson, 40, Switz City, was arrested by Deputy James Carpenter of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department on Wednesday, December 16. Dickinson was booked into the Greene County Jail at 9:46 a.m.

Earlier today, when he appeared in Greene Circuit Court for an initial hearing, he was charged with:

• Criminal confinement, with moderate bodily injury, a Level 4 felony,

• Domestic battery, with a prior conviction, a Level 6 felony,

• Intimidation – threat to commit a forcible felony, a Level 6 felony,

• Strangulation, a Level 6 felony, and

• Criminal recklessness, a Class B misdemeanor.

Deputy Carpenter was dispatched to a residence on West Second Street in Switz City after a man called the sheriff’s department at 8:19 a.m. and reported a woman at that location had just yelled and told him to call police.

Deputy Carpenter arrived at 8:26 a.m. and saw Dickinson’s Chevrolet pickup truck in the driveway. Walking up to the residence, he could hear a man and woman inside screaming and yelling. He heard the man say, “The cops are here.”

When Deputy Carpenter knocked on the door, Dickinson came out and was detained, while a woman, who was very upset and crying, said she needed to go to a hospital and that she had it all recorded.

Dickinson said he had lived there for the last two years but had not been there for the past few days due to fighting. He allegedly claimed the woman had started a rumor about him, and that she had someone kick in the back of the building and she gave them his welder and air compressor. He said he was mad and he just wanted to get his stuff, leave and not come back, but he couldn’t because she had given it away. He also said he did not beat the woman up.

The woman said when Dickinson came over that morning she let him in but he kept yelling at her and asking about his air compressor and threatening to torture her. She said she tried to call 911 but was not successful and she texted a friend and told them to call police. The altercation escalated and the woman managed to record it.

Deputy Carpenter listened to the recording – which was 27 minutes long. The woman can be heard yelling stop and “ow” numerous times.

Dickinson is accused of threatening to tape the woman’s hands and threatening to torture her, of tying her to a chair, of cutting off the circulation to her hand, of wrapping a purse strap around the woman’s neck then around her head. He’s also accused of stuffing socks into her mouth. The deputy reported that on the recording, he could hear the woman asking Dickinson to stop, could hear her yelling out in pain, and could also hear when her voice became muffled.

After Dickinson was taken into custody, GCSD Deputy Terry Wade reported finding Dickinson in possession of a razor knife and brass knuckles.

During his initial hearing, a public defender was appointed to represent Dickinson and he was served with a protective order, ordering him to have no contact with the alleged victim. His bond was set at $25,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. As of late Friday afternoon, he had not yet posted bond and remained in the Greene County Jail.