Crime & Safety

Athens Police Officer Kicks in Door to Stop a Brutal Beating

Ordered to keep away from a woman, the man was instead beating her.

An employee of University Oaks apartments on West Broad called police on Thursday afternoon after hearing a man shouting death threats and a woman screaming.

According to a story in the Athens Banner Herald, Officer Eduardo Medina could hear from outside the apartment door someone being hit and a woman screaming. He kicked in the door and found Thomas Ryan McDaris, 30, straddling a woman who was face down on the floor. 

Officer Medina saw McDaris hit the woman three times before stopping, the story says. Only after the police officer raised his baton did McDaris comply with a request to get on the floor. He was subsequently arrested, the story says. 

McDaris had to wait outside while officers interviewed the woman. The story says he shouted to her, "Be careful what you say!" 

He was charged with battery and with violating a family violence protection order that dated from an arrest in September. Then, he intentionally damaged the windshield of the victim's car, the story says, and was charged with criminal damage to property.
 
In 2007, McDaris was convicted of assaulting his wife.

Want to be notified each time a new Athens crime article is posted? Go to the Athens Patch crime page and click on "Get email updates." Have information to share with the community regarding criminal activity? Post a crime alert.

Click here to subscribe to Athens Patch’s free newsletter.

Find out what's happening in Athenswith free, real-time updates from Patch.



Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.