Justin Zachary Babendrager

A Flint, Mich., man was jailed Saturday evening in Kosciusko County after allegedly becoming violent with his ex-girlfriend.

Justin Zachary Babendrager, 19, was taken into custody shortly after 5 p.m. Saturday in an alley north of Center Street. According to the probable cause affidavit filed by Warsaw Police, Babendrager admitted to slamming his ex-girlfriend’s head against a vehicle window as she was giving him a ride to his mother’s house. The girlfriend said she told Babendrager she was going to start dating someone else, which caused him to become angry.

In her statement to police, the victim said her ex-boyfriend also smashed her cell phone and grabbed her by the throat, squeezing it to the point she could not breathe.

Babendrager was taken into custody on an active warrant for a misdemeanor battery charge from a June incident. While being taken into custody, officers located a bottle containing 65 hydrocodone pills. Babendrager said he stole the pills from his grandmother.

Babendrager also has other active criminal cases in Kosciusko courts. His current charges include dealing in marijuana and possession of marijuana, both Class D felonies; and a Class B misdemeanor battery charge. Saturday’s arrest earned him an additional Class D felony of battery by means of strangulation, and an additional charge of possession of a Schedule II controlled substance, a Class B felony.

Babendrager was booked on the active warrant and his bond was set at $1,000 cash and $2,000 surety.