Columbus police are crediting three bystanders who verbally intervened in a domestic battery incident with quickly getting help to a woman being attacked in a store parking lot.
Police were sent to the parking lot in the 1800 block of North National Road at about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday after receiving 911 calls from several women who said they saw a man battering a woman.
The man, later identified as Sean P. Roberts Jr., 23, of 2721 Boone Drive, was observed striking the woman and throwing her to the ground, said Lt. Matt Harris, Columbus Police Department spokesman.
The witnesses began walking toward the altercation after calling 911 and yelled at Roberts in an effort to help the woman, Harris said. Officers credited the women for their actions in getting help to the victim quickly by calling police and then yelling at her attacker.
The victim was not taken to the hospital, and the three witnesses were not injured, but police said they were upset after witnessing the battery, Harris said.
A video of the incident, which is not being released because it is part of the investigation, shows Roberts in the altercation with the victim and verbally threatening the female witnesses during the incident.
After reviewing video footage, officers arrested Roberts on charges of domestic battery and intimidation.
Roberts is being held in the Bartholomew County Jail in lieu of $12,500 bond, jail officials said.
