Staff Report

Joseph Benjamin Williams

WARSAW — A Columbia City man was recently arrested after violating a no-contact order and battering a woman.

Joseph Benjamin Williams, 43, 4865 US 30, Columbia City, is charged with strangulation, domestic battery with a child under 16 present and intimidation, all level 6 felonies; and domestic battery and invasion of privacy, both class A misdemeanors.

On March 11, a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s officer responded to a report of a domestic incident. The person reporting the incident was a child.

According to court documents, the child said a woman was being choked by a man, later identified as Williams. Upon arrival, officers learned the woman took Williams to a local hospital after he injured himself while punching an object.

Officers spoke with two children at the residence. One of the children said they saw Williams choke the woman. Officers also obtained an audio recording of the incident, in which you can hear Williams threaten to kill the woman and “beat her face in.”

At one point in the recording, the woman can be heard gasping for breath. Officers made contact with the woman at the hospital and noticed red marks around her neck.

At the time of this incident, Williams was out on bond for domestic battery in the presence of a child. The woman was also the victim in that case. As a condition of his bond, a no-contact order was served on Williams in December 2020. The order states Williams must have no contact with the woman.

For this case, Williams was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on March 11, with a $6,000 surety and cash bond.