Police Lower Bar on Domestic Violence Arrests

Article here. Excerpt:

'WINTER HAVEN | It's not difficult to get arrested for domestic violence: A tossed cupcake or a soda shower can get you a ride in the back of a squad car.

The Nov. 25 arrest of Baxter Troutman, a former four-term state representative from Winter Haven, is a case in point of how in some domestic violence episodes, the bar for an arrest can appear low.

Although the domestic violence-battery charge against him was quickly dropped, Troutman first spent a night in jail, which he called a humiliating experience.

But, he said, people have been overwhelmingly supportive of him.

Troutman acknowledges throwing a bedspread in the direction of his wife, Becky.

She told a deputy it hit her in the face. He said it didn't hit her anywhere.

Sheriff Grady Judd, whose deputies arrested Troutman, said if someone calls about a domestic assault in his or her home, "somebody is going to jail. Every time."'