EVANSVILLE — City police arrested an Evansville television weatherman and reporter on Saturday after an argument between him and another man over a barking dog allegedly turned physical, court records show.
Joe Bird and the other man, identified in court records as Jarrod Martin, were booked at the Vanderburgh County jail Saturday night on preliminary misdemeanor charges of domestic battery. According to court records, prosecutors filed formal charges against the men Monday.
Bird, 40, has served as a meteorologist with WEHT-Eyewitness News, the Evansville-area’s ABC affiliate and one of the city’s three major television stations, since 2013 and has been a fixture in local broadcast news for years.
According to court records, Bird secured his release from jail after posting a $500 bond.
The Courier & Press left a message seeking comment with WEHT’s general manager, Missy Coleman, on Monday but did not immediately hear back. The Eyewitness News official who referred the Courier & Press to Coleman said management would likely decline to comment on Bird’s arrest because it was a “personnel matter.”
Martin, 26, appeared in court Monday morning, the docket in his case states. Superior Court Magistrate Molly Briles appointed a public defender to represent Martin. She also ordered Martin and Bird to refrain from contacting each other.
Bird was scheduled to make his initial court appearance Monday afternoon. It was not immediately clear if he had retained an attorney.
In a sworn affidavit filed to support the charges against Bird and Martin, Evansville Police Department Officer Hunter Topper wrote that he and at least three other officers were dispatched to Bird’s Davcohn Avenue home “in reference to a domestic violence in progress” just before 8 p.m. Saturday.
Once on scene, officers spoke to Bird and Martin separately. Both men described engaging in a physical altercation.
According to Topper’s affidavit, Martin said he and Bird had been drinking Saturday night when they got into an argument about a barking dog.
“Martin stated he did not know who initiated it, however, the fight turned physical,” Topper wrote. “Martin stated they both were shoving each other.”
In Bird’s account to officers, he reportedly described trying to defuse the argument by separating himself from Martin and making his way to the home’s family room. But, Bird is reported to have said, Martin responded by hurling a “glass object” at the wall before threatening to kill his dog.
Bird also reportedly accused Martin of “knocking everything off of a family room coffee table” and leaving items − including a television and surround sound system − strewn about on the floor.
“When entering the residence, I observed items strung all over the floor of the living room, including lamps, as well as bed sheets near the couch and TV sitting on the floor,” Topper wrote.
In Bird’s telling, the physical altercation commenced when Martin “began shoving him in an effort to get his phone away from him,” the affidavit states. “Bird stated that Martin does this because he believes that Bird is filming him.”
The altercation left both men with minor-but-visible injuries, according to the responding officers. Martin had “scratch marks” on his torso and dried blood on his face, Topper wrote. Bird reportedly had similar marks on his chest, back and torso.
As of Monday afternoon, Martin was still listed in the Vanderburgh County jail’s inmate roster.
Houston Harwood can be contacted at houston.harwood@courierpress.com.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville TV reporter/weatherman arrested by city police, charged with domestic battery
Reporting by Houston Harwood, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
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