Staff Report

Samuel E. Frush

COLUMBIA CITY — A Pierceton man was arrested in Whitley County for allegedly battering a woman he previously battered in 2020.

Samuel E. Frush, 60, 204 W. Elm St., Pierceton, is charged with domestic battery with a prior conviction, a level 5 felony.

On July 5, a woman reported being battered by Frush. She said she and Frush were at a hotel in Columbia City and were talking when Frush punched her jaw and ribs.

According to court documents, the woman reported blacking out and did not remember what else happened. When she woke up, she took pictures of her bruises and Frush cleaning up her blood with a towel. She then went to a relative’s house for assistance.

The woman was assessed at a local hospital, with medical personnel determining she had a crack in her ribs.

In an interview with Columbia City police, Frush said he did not batter the woman, alleging she fell and bruised her chin on a toilet seat. When asked about the woman’s cracked ribs, Frush said the woman fell “pretty hard.”

Frush was previously convicted of domestic battery in Kosciusko County in October 2020. The woman involved in the Whitley County case is also the victim in the Kosciusko County case.

Frush was booked in the Whitley County Jail on July 5. He has a pretrial conference at 8:30 a.m. Monday, Aug. 4, in Whitley Circuit Court.