An Athens man was recently arrested after his son's mother told police that he beat her and her friend Monday afternoon after they all got into a fight over who was to take care of the couple's child.

The 26-year-old man has been charged with simple battery under the Domestic Violence Act for the physical harm he is said to have caused the mother of his child. He has also been charged with battery for his alleged attack on her friend.

The alleged assault occurred when the man brought the child to the child's mother's house, but for some reason that police have not disclosed, the woman would not take the child from the man.

When the man left the woman's residence as a passenger in a vehicle driven by someone else, the child's mother and a friend followed him in their own vehicle.

At one point, the first car in which the man was a passenger stopped near the intersection of Old Hull Road and North Avenue and the second vehicle stopped behind it. That, according to witnesses, is when the man got out of the car, walked over the second vehicle and punched both women inside.

At this point, all we have to go on is the say-so of witnesses and the women who claim they were hurt. Nothing has been proven in court yet. Even so, it seems this is a domestic situation that would benefit from some professional intervention. Clearly, the man and woman have some issues relating to care of their child and have not been able to work them out on their own. Perhaps if they got the professional help they needed, they would not have such a difficult time relating to one another.

Source: The Athens Banner-Herald, "Man assaults two women in car," May 15, 2012