UPDATED (May 10, 8:44 p.m.) Commissioner Oz Nesbitt read the following written statement regarding the charges and incident from Monday at the end of the Board of Commissioners meeting Tuesday evening.
"I’m certain most of you have heard the news that has been reported in the media and discussed in the community. On the advice of counsel, I will not discuss details of the incident. I assure my constituents and the people of Rockdale County that I will remain focused on the business of the county and this personal matter will not alter or detract from my fulfillment as Commissioner of Post I duties and responsibilities.
"Based on the actual circumstances, the sheriff’s deputies were simply following proper protocol, policy and procedures in a very professional manner. I intend to defend myself in the judicial process. At the conclusion of this process, I’m confident that the appropriate forward actions will prevail. In the meantime, I ask that you would respect my privacy and the privacy of my family. Respectfully, I intend not to address this matter ever again in the public. Thank you for your understanding."
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(May 10, 11:44 a.m.) According to a sheriff's office report, Commissioner Oz Nesbitt and his wife became embroiled in an arguement that resulted in Nesbitt punching the windshield of her car and his wife reportedly pulling off the windshield wipers of his car.
Shortly before 4 p.m. on Monday, May 9, deputies were called to the residence in the Mountain Valley Estates subdivision for a domestic dispute.
The caller, who had left the scene, said the couple were arguing and Nesbitt had broken a windshield but no assault had occured. The caller, who asked to stay anonymous, said they were afraid there would be an assault.
When deputies arrived, they found two cars in the driveway - a gold 1997 Infiniti i30 and a black 2011 Kia Sorrento SUV - and a couple standing next to the car. The male, identified as Oz Nesbitt, was waving an object in his hand and visibly upset. His hand was bleeding and Nesbitt told deputies it came from punching the windshield.
"He stated that he and his wife were arguing about communication issues and that it just got a little heated," wrote the reporting deputy. "He stated that she had hit him and I asked if he had any injuries other than the injury sustained from the windshield, in which he stated he did not."
Nesbitt told the deputy that during the arguement, his wife Robernette and his daughter attempted to leave and got into the car and began to back down the driveway.
"He stated that he stopped her and they continued to argue and he got very upset and punched the driver's portion of the windshield," wrote the deputy. "He stated... that she got out of the vehicle and got in his face and started to slap him. He stated she slapped him so hard his eye glasses fell off and that he was having to attempt to block her attacks."
When the deputy spoke with Robernette Nesbitt, she said she and her husband got into an arguement and he punched the windshield.
The deputy observed she had small injuries, such as a small cut on the bottom of her right forearm and a cut on a finger of her left hand with blood.
"She attempted to look at the injury and I asked her if that was from him grabbing her and she stated that it was," wrote the deputy. "She stated that she did not know how her knuckle had been cut but she did state that she did fall on the gravel."
"She began to repeat it was just an arguement between them and that her husband punched the windshield and no one hit anyone. She stated she was very upset at him because it was an unecessary expense that was going to have to be made."
She told the deputy "he did not put his hands on her" and that "she did not lay a hand on him."
Nesbitt also told deputies that after he had punched the windshield and his wife had gotten out and slapped him, she walked over to his black Kia Sorrento and broke the driver's side windshield wiper and rear windshield wiper.
Nesbitt was arrested and charged with a simple assault misdemeanor and a battery misdemeanor. He was was bonded out of Rockdale County Jail for $2,500.
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(May 9, 10:55 p.m.) Rockdale County Post I Commissioner Oz Nesbitt was arrested today and charged with two counts that fall under the Family Violence Act.
Nesbitt, 44, was arrested by a Rockdale County Sheriff's Office deputy at his home and booked into the Rockdale County Jail around 5 p.m. Monday, according to the RCSO website posting. He was bonded out around 10:30 p.m.
He was charged with a simple assault misdemeanor and a battery misdemeanor. The simple assault was for an act between spouses.The battery is listed as a misdemeanor for being a first offense. A second offense against the same person would carry a felony charge.
Nesbitt was elected to the Post I position in 2008 and his four-year term started in 2009. He previously worked 15 years as a law enforcement officer, according to his county biography.
The Post I seat is up for election in 2012.
Check back to www.rockdalenews.com for this developing story.
