Staff Report

Austin Taylor Wakeman

SYRACUSE — A Pierceton man was recently arrested after allegedly battering a woman while inside a vehicle.

Austin Taylor Wakeman, 27, 3104 E. Wooster Road Lot 65, Pierceton, is charged with domestic battery with a child under 16 present, domestic battery with moderate bodily injury, and strangulation, all level 6 felonies; and criminal mischief, a class B misdemeanor.

On June 17, a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s deputy responded to a report of a domestic battery. The battery occurred in a vehicle at a road intersection in Syracuse.

A woman who reported the incident said Wakeman battered her in a vehicle while driving and then left on foot after intentionally damaging the vehicle. Two children were also present at the scene.

A Syracuse Police officer assisted at the scene and spoke with the woman about the incident. According to court documents, the woman said Wakeman was driving her vehicle when he commented on how tired he was. When the woman asked Wakeman if he was up all day and night, Wakeman became violently angry.

He allegedly ripped the console light out of the vehicle’s ceiling and grabbed the woman around the neck. During the physical attack, the woman said Wakeman used a closed fist to hit her twice in the face. The woman’s facial injuries included a swollen lip.

Wakeman broke both side-view mirrors and a taillight lens on the vehicle before leaving on foot.

Wakeman was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on Dec. 1, with a $6,000 surety and cash bond.