Man arrested on charge of domestic battery in store parking lot

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 saw a man battering a woman.

The man, later identified as Sean P. Roberts Jr., 23, Columbus, was observed striking the woman and throwing her to the ground, said Lt. Matt Harris, Columbus Police Department spokesman.

The witnesses were 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 911 and then yelling at her attacker in an attempt to help the victim.

The victim was not taken to the hospital, and the three witnesses were not injured, but police said they were “shaken” and very 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 threatening the women witnesses verbally during the incident, Harris said.

After reviewing the video footage from the store, officers arrested Roberts on a charge of domestic battery and he was taken to the Bartholomew County Jail, Harris said.

For more on this story, see Thursday’s Republic.