A report of a car accident resulted in an arrest for simple battery and cruelty to children Tuesday afternoon.

Officers from the Covington Police Department were originally called to TitleMax on U.S. Highway 278 about an accident but on the way there, 911 dispatchers notified the officers that the male driver, later identified as 42-year-old Shakeem Himself Allah, had started choking the female driver of the other car.

When officers arrived they found a Kia and a Jeep Commander with their front ends damaged, obviously the result of an accident, according to reports. The Jeep was partially sitting in the parking lot of TitleMax with the front end sticking in the roadway and the Kia was in the westbound right lane on Hwy. 278.

There was an elderly white female with three teenagers and a black female and black male by the vehicles. When officers exited their vehicles and asked what happened and who had choked whom, the group reportedly pointed to Allah, who was approaching the officer wearing a dress shirt and pants, a tie and talking on a cell phone.

When officers asked Allah what happened he told them that the elderly woman had struck his car. When asked if he had choked her he allegedly told officers that she "got in his face, so he pushed her away."

The witnesses reportedly told the officers that following the accident Allah got out of his vehicle and walked over to the woman yelling "you hit my car!" after which he pushed her, then put his hands around her throat and began choking her. The victim had no marks but was favoring her left arm, officers said. 

Allah was arrested and transported to the Newton County Detention Center. The incident took place in front of the victim's juvenile grandchildren, as well as a 2-year-old child that was in the car at the time. Other witnesses to the incident repeated the story that Allah had choked the woman.

He was charged with failure to yield right-of-way, simple battery and third degree cruelty to children. He bonded out on a $2,400 bond a day later.