LEESVILLE – On Tuesday, April 9, Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department deputies arrested a man on domestic battery charges.
According to a probable cause affidavit by Deputy Whitney Daughtery-Anderson, on that day at 9:15 a.m., Lawrence County Central Dispatch received a call from a woman who claimed 43-year-old Travis Mason had choked her and broke her cell phone.
The woman was at a neighbor’s house in the 4000 block of Leesville Road, using their phone to call the police.
She told police she was in a relationship with Mason, and they two had recently separated. The woman was told to stay at the friend’s house until police arrived.
When Officer Daugherty-Anderson and Capt. Andrew Phillips arrived, and they spoke to the woman. She told police that Mason was suicidal the night before, and she went to meet him at the Community Center down the road from his home. Once she arrived, Mason calmed down. She then asked for her W2s which were at Mason’s house. She said they went to Mason’s home in the 80 block of Community Drive, and once she got there, Mason refused to give her the tax papers. She then went to leave, but Mason prevented her from leaving and told her she was going to stay.
Mason then wanted to cuddle on the bed, so she laid down with him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and wouldn’t let go. He continued to tell her she had to stay. She told the police that Mason had a temper and was a strong man, and she didn’t want to fight, so she played along. She said Mason then wanted to have sex, and she did it because she didn’t want to get hurt. She eventually fell asleep. She woke to Mason asking her for the passcode on her phone. She refused to give him the passcode to her phone. Mason then attacked her, pushed her to the ground, and choked her, making it difficult to breathe. She was banging her hands on the floor, and once Mason let go, she screamed for help. That is when Mason’s mother came up the stairs, and the fight stopped. She was unsure how her phone had broken.
The woman told police her face hurt because he had his hand over her mouth, and her neck hurt from him choking her.
The woman requested to file charges and signed a battery affidavit.
Police then went to Mason’s house, and he was detained on charges of domestic battery causing injury, strangulation, and criminal confinement.
Mason told police that the woman came to his house randomly around 11:00 p.m. the night before. She showered, and he was curious about who she had been texting and calling, so he took her phone. He said he asked for the passcode because they always share passcodes. He said when she saw him on her phone, she leaped on him, and he said he kept pushing her off of him.
He said he never confined her or choked her. She then spit in his face. He threw her phone, and it broke. That made her “really mad,” and she left.
