According to a Coffee County Sheriff’s Office incident report, a 40-year-old Douglas resident was recently placed under custody for allegedly abusing an elderly woman for three days after a fight over food.
A deputy was called to a home on January 30 about a domestic dispute, the report states. After hearing a man yell when the deputy arrived, he opened the door and saw the man, who was later identified as Douglas resident James Wesley Harris, 40, standing over an old woman and cursing her.
Harris had two bloodstains on his face when the deputy gave him the order to go outside. As one deputy remained with Harris, the reporting deputy went inside to have a conversation with the 73-year-old victim. Harris had “jumped on her,” physically abused her, and had been hitting her for three days, she said the deputy. She further stated that the argument started over food and that Harris had “slammed her onto the floor”.
The deputy claimed the woman suffered a cut on her right thumb and other bruises from Harris yanking a lighter out of her hand.
The victim was questioned by the deputy, who then spoke with a second woman who had two recordings of the argument. She said that eating was the main topic of discussion.
A few nights ago, she had to physically remove Harris from the victim because he had been belligerent towards her. She told the deputy about this. Harris had threatened to kill the victim, she added in her report.
Harris allegedly told the deputy that he was protecting himself from the victim after she punched him, scraped his ears, and woke him up.
No marks were visible on Harris, according to the deputy.
One case of “exploit/inflict pain to/deprive essential services to a disabled person, elder person, or resident” (F) was filed against Harris after he was taken to the Coffee County Jail. His bond hearing is scheduled for later this month, but he is still being held in prison.
