Dorchester continues investigation into deputy assault allegations

Here is another story by our favorite cop hater, Sharahn "Boring" Boykin. If you are not aware, Boykin is the lovely writer for the Daily Slime that constantly writes about how terrible local police and it's leaders are. She's writing today about Joel Arnold, who is incidentally now apparently engaged to the girlfriend that appeared in this story, who is undoubtedly not going to cooperate with any criminal investigation into this incident. So, why is the Dorchester county states attorney's office investigating an incident when charges were already dismissed?

July 23, 2009
Dorchester continues investigation into deputy assault allegations
By Sharahn D. Boykin, Staff Writer

SALISBURY -- Charges against a former deputy accused of choking and threatening his girlfriend were dropped, but the case hasn't gone away, according to the Dorchester County State's Attorney's Office. Joel Arnold, 32, was charged with assault, reckless endangerment, false imprisonment and malicious destruction of property after a verbal disagreement with his girlfriend allegedly turned physical in April.

Arnold submitted a letter of resignation to the Wicomico County Sheriff's Office a little more than a week after the incident. The state dismissed the charges in May.

"It has not gone away," said the prosecutor, Dorchester State's Attorney William Jones. "It is still being investigated by my office." The charges against Arnold stemmed from a series of arguments between Arnold and his live-in girlfriend. The couple's quarrels started the day before police were called. According to police interviews with the victim, the two argued about a text message on his cell phone and when the victim asked Arnold about the message, he told her he wanted to move out and end the relationship.

The couple continued the argument through text messages after Arnold left for work. Early the following morning, around 1:30 a.m., the couple agreed to work out their differences, according to police interviews. At about 4 a.m., the victim woke up to Arnold yelling at someone over the phone, according to court documents. She asked who he was talking to. Eventually, he admitted he was on the phone with his "estranged" wife, according to court documents. Arnold became upset when they started to argue again, according to police interviews with the victim. He allegedly grabbed her by the neck, with two hands, and started choking her, according to court documents.

After she broke free, Arnold allegedly grabbed her by the neck a second time, according to the documents. Eventually, the victim was able to escape from the home and call police from a neighbor's house.