Written by: E. George
Published December 20, 2023 @ 8:30 PM ET
CHATHAM COUNTY, Ga. – On December 17, 2023, Savannah Police officers arrested 33-year-old David Brassell, an eight-year veteran deputy with the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, and charged him with one count of simple battery (domestic violence) and one count of obstructing a person from making emergency telephone calls after an altercation with his wife. Brassell was an active member of the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office’s patrol division at the time of his arrest.
Officers responded to the Drayton Street hotel regarding a domestic violence incident and spoke with the female victim. She said her husband, Brassell, had become violent with her.
She explained that they were walking back to their room at the Drayton Hotel “from Saddle Bags on River Street” when he began to argue with her and accuse her of infidelity. She said he was intoxicated.
The verbal argument “escalated and became physical” once they entered their room. She said he “got extremely close to her, to the point where their noses were touching.”
She pushed him away from her, and “he began to open-hand push on her chest, pushing her into the wall.” She showed a photograph of “several small scratches on her chest,” but “no marks were seen upon [the officers’] arrival.”
She called 911 on her cell phone, but once Brassell realized she was phoning for help, he hung up. She said, “Every time she got a call back from 911, Brassell would not allow her to answer the phone.”
He then “took her phone and threw it at her.” She tried calling 911 from the hotel phone, but Brassell prevented her call and threw the hotel phone.
