By Lara Saavedra
COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) -
A Columbia Police Department
officer was arrested Saturday and charged with criminal domestic violence,
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said.
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Just before 1 a.m. deputies
were called to a home in the 800 block of Sparkleberry Lane for a possible
assault.
Officer Tobin Barton and his
live-in girlfriend were involved in a verbal altercation that ended when Barton
assaulted the victim by grabbing her around the throat, Lott said.
Barton was arrested and
transported to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. He was released the same
day on $5,242 bond.
A spokesperson for the Columbia
Police Department said Barton has been suspended without pay.
According to court records,
Barton can't return to his residence until March 25 to pick up his personal
belongings and he must have a uniformed escort.
He was also ordered to have no
contact with the victim directly, only indirect through a mutual third party to
discuss child care.
His next court date is
scheduled for May 14.