Man attacks Beaufort County girlfriend as she holds their 8-week-old baby, deputies say

Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived to a residence on St. Helena Island on Saturday to find a woman with a swollen right eye and a large scratch mark on her upper right arm, according to a Sheriff’s Office report.

The woman told deputies her boyfriend attacked her while holding their 8-week-old baby. She said he slapped her in the face and punched her several times. The man told police the woman pushed him and that was the only physical contact they had.

Deputies found no physical injuries on the man.

Both seemed to agree that he came home in the early morning hours after drinking with friends and that an argument started over the baby. The woman told authorities the argument started when she woke up to the baby crying and saw the man laying on the child.

The woman decided not to pursue charges against the man.

“Due to the fact of physical injuries on (the woman), her statements and according to both (the man) and (the woman) both children were present during the incident, I placed (the man) under arrest for Domestic Violence 2nd Degree,” a statement in the report reads.