Alleged Battery In Whitley County Leads To Arrest
By Lasca Randels
InkFreeNews
WARSAW — A Warsaw man has been arrested following an alleged incident involving strangulation in Whitley County.
Derrick Scott Gasaway, 29, 4335 E. CR 725S, Warsaw, is charged with strangulation, a level 6 felony; battery resulting in moderate bodily injury, a level 6 felony; and interference with the reporting of a crime, a class A misdemeanor.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, on May 17, Columbia City Police were dispatched to a domestic disturbance in progress.
Dispatch then advised that the suspect, Gasaway, had left the scene in a black Chevy Impala.
Police spoke with the victim, a woman, whose left eye was swollen and starting to bruise. She was having trouble opening her mouth fully and there were red marks around her neck.
The victim said she had been sleeping and when she woke up she found that Gasaway and a male friend were at the residence. The victim told Gasaway that his friend needed to leave because she did not want him there. At that time, the victim and Gasaway started to argue.
The victim said that Gasaway put his hands around her neck and she could feel her feet coming off the ground. She said she was unable to breathe. The woman said when Gasaway let her go, she went to the bed and that is when he hit her with a closed fist on the right side of her jaw. She said she went into the living room and asked Gasaway’s friend for help. According to the victim, Gasaway’s friend told her “no,” and then said, “Come on, Derrick, let’s just go.”
The woman said Gasaway hit her again with a closed fist on the left side of her head, causing her head to hit the wall. She said she went to lay on the bed and Gasaway came over and started to strangle her.
According to the victim, when Gasaway stopped strangling her, she tried to run out of the room, but Gasaway grabbed the door and swung it open and hit her right foot. She said at one point she tried to call the police on her cellphone, but Gasaway grabbed her phone and threw it into the living room so that she was unable to call the police.
The victim was able to get out and ran to the next-door neighbor who let her in. The neighbor then called the police and told them that the two men got into a black Chevy Impala and drove off.
Police contacted Gasaway by phone and asked where he was. Gasaway stated he was in Fort Wayne. Gasaway told an officer that the victim is crazy and was hitting herself.
When asked why he did not remain at the scene, Gasaway told the officer that he is a criminal and does not like the police. Gasaway told police that he is headed to Ohio because he does not have a place to stay in Indiana.
Police informed Gasaway that they would be forwarding the case to the prosecutor, and Gasaway replied that was fine.
Gasaway was booked at the Whitley County Jail June 4 on a $50,000 bond.