OGDEN, Utah, Aug. 24, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — An Ogden man was arrested Friday after he allegedly choked his 18-year-old son and repeatedly struck his head against a wall because the son told him he doesn’t want to go on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Scott Keith Warner, 49, is facing charges of aggravated assault, a third-degree felony; and two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, a class B misdemeanor.
According to a probable cause statement filed in 2nd District Court in Ogden by an officer with the Ogden Police Department, the officer responded to a home on Jackson Avenue after a caller reported that Scott Warner was physically fighting his son.
The officer spoke with Warner at the front door, and Warner told him he had tried to “remove his son from the home” after the young man said he didn’t wish to go on his mission.
The officer then spoke with the victim, Warner’s son, who stated that he and his father had been arguing, and he told his father he wouldn’t be going on the mission.
That’s when Warner grabbed the young man by the arm and they began to physically fight, the charging document states.
“The victim reported that during this fight he was knocked to the ground and Scott began to strike the victim’s head into the wall repeatedly as well as squeeze the victim’s neck with both hands,” the statement says.
The officer wrote that the son had multiple visible scratches to the right side of his neck, and redness around the back of the neck, and that “The victim was visibly shaking while speaking with me about the incident and was hesitant to provide details.”
According to another officer on scene, two juveniles — ages 15 and 17 — didn’t see the fighting, but heard it. Warner’s wife also witnessed part of the incident after hearing it, and she intervened when she saw that Warner was holding the son in a “bear hug.”
The reporting officer wrote that Warner approached him to provide further details.
“Scott reported that he had attempted to forcibly remove victim from the home as it was his (Scott’s) house. Scott did confirm that the victim was his son and had lived in the home for 18 years, when I pointed out that the victim appeared to be a lawful resident, Scott stated I was not a lawyer.”
When asked how he attempted to remove the victim from the home, Warner said he “grabbed” him, and when asked where he grabbed him, Warner replied “wherever I could.”
According to the statement, Warner said the son had shoved him first. He claimed he had done nothing wrong and “continually referred to the incident as a ‘tussle.'” Warner claimed to have injuries from his son’s actions “and pointed out a small scrape to his elbow.”
The son initially told the officer he didn’t have trouble breathing and didn’t lose consciousness while he was grabbed by the neck, but he later told another officer that he did struggle to breathe during the altercation. He also referred to Warner’s actions as “choking me” when he spoke with the reporting officer.
“Based on the obvious physical injuries to the victim as well as the stories provided by all parties, I determined Scott to be the predominant physical aggressor,” the officer wrote.
Warner was arrested and booked into Weber County Jail.
How horrible that this jerk thought to use violence against his son who did not want to go on a mission for the father’s church!! So very Christ-like…not!!!