A Columbus police officer who was recently sued for lack of action in a domestic violence case that turned fatal has been arrested and charged with strangling his girlfriend.
Timothy Fuller, 42, was charged with strangulation June 16, according to Franklin County Municipal Court records. He remained imprisoned in the Franklin County Jail the next morning.
At 10 a.m. June 16, the woman said she and Fuller were arguing at their home in Hilliard, and he pushed her onto the bed, got on top of her and squeezed her neck with both hands until she lost consciousness, according to court records.
She said she woke up on the floor at the foot of the bed and Fuller strangled her two more times, whipped her with a piece of leather and told her he was going to kill her, according to court records.
The woman told police Fuller kept her phone from her until he left for work at 10 p.m. so that she could not report the incident. She encountered Hilliard police officers at 12:40 a.m. while driving to the police department, according to court records.
Columbus police Sgt. James Fuqua confirmed Fuller was a Columbus police officer and that Fuller had been arrested and charged in a domestic violence incident overnight. He did not answer whether Fuller was on administrative leave and declined to comment further.
Fuller was named in a Feb. 26 lawsuit that alleges he failed to take steps to prevent the death of 60-year-old Marchelle Freeman, who was fatally shot by her boyfriend in 2024.
Lawsuit claims officer refused to take gun from man accused of domestic violence
The February lawsuit named Fuller as well as Mitchell Clifford and Ryan Cale. It states that the officers went to the residence of Marchelle Freeman 1700 block of East Sycamore Street on the Near East Side twice on March 21, 2024, in the six hours before she died.
Freeman told 911 dispatchers at 6:25 p.m. that her boyfriend, Stewart Butler, was unstable, armed with a gun and had threatened her.
Butler should have forfeited the gun due to unrelated 2023 misdemeanor charges that were previously dismissed, according to the lawsuit. But Fuller refused to take the gun when he arrived, saying Butler had a right to have it, according to the lawsuit.
Freeman told Fuller and the dispatcher that Butler had threatened her and his behavior had shifted, giving her “extreme concerns” about what he might do. She said, “I would like you to remove that firearm,” according to the lawsuit.
The officers left the scene after telling the parties to stay away from each other, according to the lawsuit.
Freeman called 911 again at 9:15 p.m., saying Butler was in his room and had a weapon he would use, according to the officer. The same three officers responded.
Butler threatened to shoot Freeman in a conversation with Fuller during that visit to the home, according to the lawsuit.
“Butler, shaking his head from side to side, responds ‘If this keeps going on man, I’m not going to do that. If she keeps coming in my room, Imma (sic) bust a cap,'” the lawsuit states.
Clifford responded, “Alright, keep in mind you’re talking to the police and cameras are rolling here,” the lawsuit states, at which point Butler said, “It’s not a threat, it’s a promise.”
The officers told Butler to stop talking “while he was ahead” because they didn’t want to have to arrest anyone, according to the lawsuit.
Just before 11:30 p.m., a neighbor called 911 and said Butler admitted to shooting Freeman, according to the lawsuit.
Butler pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the shooting and is serving a 14 to 19.5-year prison sentence.
Public Safety and Breaking News Reporter Bailey Gallion can be reached at bagallion@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus officer charged with strangulation previously sued in DV case
Reporting by Bailey Gallion, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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By Bailey Gallion, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
