A rural Woodward man was arrested on a Greene County warrant Thursday in connection with a July 9 incident in which he allegedly beat up his girlfriend from Grand Junction.
James Kenneth Harris, 33, of 746 330th St., Woodward, was charged with third or subsequent offense domestic abuse assault.
According to court records, the victim told a Greene County Deputy Sheriff that she was a passenger in a vehicle driven by “her boyfriend James Harris” when Harris became “upset.”
The victim said she asked Harris to stop the vehicle and let her out, but instead he “stopped the car on a bridge near Squirrel Hollow along Hardin Creek and started punching and kicking her,” according to court records.
The victim said that “when she finally got away, she went through a bean field to a farm house and asked for a ride back to town.”
The victim showed the investigating deputy sheriff “pictures from the following morning” of July 10. The pictures allegedly showed the victim with “a bruise around her left eye” and “multiple bruises on her left arm and left hip.”
Greene County District Court Magistrate Jessica L. Morton issued a warrant for Harris’ arrest July 13, and the warrant was served July 16 by the Jefferson Police Department following a traffic stop of Harris’ vehicle.
Harris is held in the Greene County Jail on a $5,000 cash or surety bond. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Greene County District Court.
Harris was convicted of first-offense domestic abuse assault-bodily injury or mental illness in January 2015 in Dallas County District Court. He was convicted of third-degree harassment in November 2017 in Greene County District Court. He was convicted of assault in December 2017 in Greene County District Court. He was convicted of first-offense domestic abuse assault-bodily injury or mental illness in May 2018 in Greene County District Court. He was convicted of second-offense domestic abuse assault-bodily injury or mental illness in October 2018 in Greene County District Court.
*A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Just how does someone get a conviction for first-offense domestic abuse assault-bodily injury or mental illness in January 2015 and then in May 2018 still only get a “first-offense”?
His newest “ex-girl friend” probably wants to know as well.