Written by: K. Bishop
Published March 16, 2023 @ 12:40 PM ET
Bartow County (March 5, 2023) – A Cartersville father is accused of choking his young daughter and dragging her down a hallway for not cleaning up a mess in the family’s living room. The girl showed deputies how her father choked her using the doll she was playing with when she was attacked.
Deputies say Aaron Nathaniel Joseph is shown on video dragging the girl down a hallway to a bedroom. He allegedly shouted at another child to “get the f— off me” while he chased his children’s mother down a hallway and smacked the phone from her hand.
Joseph was located near the family’s Luwanda Trail home and detained while deputies spoke with his family. The children and their mother described the incident, saying Joseph was enraged over a mess in the living room and shouted at the young girl to clean up the mess before choking her.
She told deputies her father grabbed the front of her neck, and she couldn’t breathe. The child demonstrated on her doll how her father choked her. According to reports, there were marks from the strangling incident around the girl’s neck.
Joseph denied any abuse or argument and claimed he told his daughter to clean up her mess and then escorted her to her room. The girl’s mother hid in a bathroom and called 911. The mother provided video evidence that she recorded showing Joseph dragging the child down the hallway by the side of her neck before using profanity towards the other children and smacking the phone the mother used to record the incident.
Joseph was arrested and booked into the Bartow County Jail. He was charged with assault, battery, and child cruelty.
Officer’s Narrative:
[Please note: The following is a direct transcription from the official initial incident report. The Georgia Gazette does not fix any spelling or grammatical errors that may exist. Any changes or redactions made by our staff are placed inside brackets. Some errors may exist. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The topics discussed may be sensitive to some readers. Discretion is advised.]
On Sunday March 5, 2023 at 0932 hours I was dispatched to [10 BLOCK] Luwanda Trl, Cartersville in reference to a domestic disturbance.
Prior to my arrival the complainant, [VICTIM #1], advised Aaron Joseph, the father to her children, had left from the residence on foot. [VICTIM #1] advised Aaron was wearing a red hoodie when he left the residence.
As I turned onto Sharp Way, Cartersville I located a black male wearing a red hoodie walking towards Grassdale Rd. I did get out of my vehicle and approach the male and he did identify himself as Aaron Joseph.
I spoke with Aaron who stated he was asleep in his room when he was woken up by [VICTIM #1], his two daughters [REDACTED BY AGENCY] and [REDACTED BY AGENCY] [REDACTED] and [VICTIM #1] ‘s other daughter [REDACTED BY AGENCY] [REDACTED]. Aaron stated he came out of his room to see a mess in the floor of the living room. Aaron stated he told [REDACTED BY AGENCY] and [REDACTED BY AGENCY] they could not leave the mess in the floor and needed to clean it up.
Aaron stated [VICTIM #1] went and locked herself in the bathroom when he came out. Aaron stated [REDACTED BY AGENCY] was not listening when being told to clean up her mess and as punishment he was “bringing her to her room.” Aaron stated [REDACTED BY AGENCY] and [REDACTED BY AGENCY] began “wilding out” and that was when [VICTIM #1] called 911 while she was in the bathroom.
Aaron stated he did leave the residence when [VICTIM #1] called 911. I did ask Aaron if at any point during the incident it became physical and he stated no. I asked Aaron if at any point during the incident were any threats made and he stated no. I did ask Aaron if there was a verbal argument between anyone and he stated no.
I did pat down Aaron for any contraband or weapons on his person before placing him in the back of my patrol vehicle. I did then place Aaron in the back of my patrol vehicle and transport him back to [10 BLOCK] Luwanda Trl, Cartersville so I could meet and speak with the other party.
When I arrived on scene I met with [VICTIM #1]. [VICTIM #1] stated she was in the bathroom and when she came she witnessed Aaron with his hand around [REDACTED BY AGENCY] neck as he was dragging her down the hallway.
[VICTIM #1] advised when she came out of the bathroom and witnessed Aaron dragging [REDACTED BY AGENCY] down the hallway she immediately began recording. [VICTIM #1] stated when Aaron realized [VICTIM #1] was recording he began to run after her and she had to run to get away from him. [VICTIM #1] stated she did not know what was going on so she asked [REDACTED BY AGENCY] [VICTIM #1] advised [REDACTED BY AGENCY] told her she was playing and Aaron came up to her and grabbed her by the throat and drug her to the back room. [VICTIM #1] did show the the video footage she recorded.
I did watch the video footage [VICTIM #1] recorded with her phone and I did have [VICTIM #1] email the footage to me and the video is located in the attachments tab of this report. In the video footage I witnessed Aaron with his right hand on [REDACTED BY AGENCY] collarbone and neck area.
I did witness Aaron forcefully pushing [REDACTED BY AGENCY] down the hallway while she is screaming and crying hysterically. I did witness [REDACTED BY AGENCY] attempt several times to get Aaron’s hand off of her and once Aaron got [REDACTED BY AGENCY] into the bedroom he let go and walked out. When Aaron exits the room and gets into the hallway can see [REDACTED BY AGENCY] and [REDACTED BY AGENCY] in the hallway right outside the bedroom Aaron pushed [REDACTED BY AGENCY] into. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] is now standing behind Aaron and [REDACTED BY AGENCY] is in front of Aaron. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] did come out of the room and grab the end of Aaron’s jacket he was wearing.
Aaron then forcefully jerks his jacket out of [REDACTED BY AGENCY] hand while [REDACTED BY AGENCY] is standing in between them and while he was yelling “Get off of me” and “Get the fu*k off me.” Aaron then comes down the hallway toward [VICTIM #1] as he sees she is recording him. The view of the camera jerks due to Aaron smacking the camera to take the view off of him. As Aaron approached [VICTIM #1] and hit the phone she was recording with you can see she is moving away from the direction Aaron is going and stating “You’re not touching me dude.” The video footage then ends.
With permission from [VICTIM #1] I did speak with [REDACTED BY AGENCY] separately from anyone else. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] stated her father, Aaron had told her to pick up her toys, but she didn’t hear him. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] stated Aaron came up to her and grabbed her by the neck, choking her. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] was holding her baby doll in her hands and I asked [REDACTED BY AGENCY] if she could show me how Aaron choked her on her baby doll. [REDACTED BY AGENCY] then place her hand directly over the baby doll’s neck.
I did ask [REDACTED BY AGENCY] if it hurt when Aaron grabbed her neck and she stated yes. I also asked [REDACTED BY AGENCY] if she could breathe when Aaron grabbed her neck and she stated no. I did notice some redness/discoloration on [REDACTED BY AGENCY] neck and collarbone area right below her neck. I did take pictures of the redness/discoloration that I saw with my body worn camera.
I then asked Aaron to step out of the back of my patrol vehicle and I did place him into handcuffs and advised he was being placed under arrest. Aaron was placed under arrest for Cruelty to Children 1st (fva) for causing excessive pain to Ava, Aggravated Assault-Strangulation (fva) for grabbing [REDACTED BY AGENCY] by the throat causing her to lose the ability to breathe, Battery (fva) for leaving marks on [REDACTED BY AGENCY] due to grabbing her throat, Cruelty to Child 3rd (x2) for [REDACTED BY AGENCY] and [REDACTED BY AGENCY] witnessing, hearing and being present during a family violence offense, Simple Battery (fva)for smacking [VICTIM #1] ‘s phone that was in her hand while she was recording the incident and Simple Assault (fva) due to [VICTIM #1] being placed in fear of injury due to he extent she needed to run away from him. I did make a DICS referral due to this incident.
Aaron was then placed back into my patrol vehicle and transported to the Bartow County Jail.
[End of Narrative]