A Fulton County commissioner was charged with misdemeanor battery this week, following an argument in which he allegedly pushed and dragged his wife.
Marvin Arrington, Jr., who was elected to the board of commissioners in 2014, was released on $2,000 bond after a hearing Friday, Channel 2 Action News reported. His wife, Kristen Arrington, 46, was in the courtroom to support him.
In a statement sent via a family friend, the couple said they “do not condone domestic violence of any kind” and that the situation “is a family matter that we are working through.”
“We are both committed to our family and we ask that the public respect our privacy as we work to restore our family bond,” the statement said.
No one answered the phone at the Arrington residence Friday afternoon.
Keith Adams, an attorney representing the commissioner, said he was "pretty confident" the case would be resolved in his client's favor.
“I think the issuance of a warrant is not just premature, it’s unwarranted,” Adams said. “There’s some dispute between what she said happened and what he said happened.”
According to the police report, Kristen Arrington and her husband were arguing Sunday night after Marvin Arrington tried to hide something on his cell phone from her. After Kristen Arrington grabbed the phone from him and threatened to call a “female contact” in the phone, Marvin Arrington “became angry and lunged toward her and tried to take the phone from her” hand, the report said.
The couple struggled over the phone, and Marvin Arrington allegedly pushed his wife to the ground, dragged her along the floor and twisted her arm behind her back until she let go of the phone. The report said after she let go, he “pushed her, knocking her across the room.”
Kristen Arrington called the police, and Marvin Arrington left the house and drove away, the report said. When police arrived just before midnight Sunday, Kristen Arrington had visible bumps and bruises on her left arm and shin, and scratches on her left arm and on a finger. She told officers she had pain in her left hand and trouble moving her fingers, but she declined an ambulance to treat her injuries.
The officer noted that the entertainment center was in disarray, and appeared to be the site of a struggle. An angel decoration in the hallway had been knocked on the floor.
Adams said there was “mutual pushing” and that the allegations were “a bit silly.”
“I really do think it was an effort not to be accused of any sort of favoritism,” Adams said of the arrest. “In a similar case, they wouldn’t charge anyone.”
In 2013, Kristen Arrington filed another police report in which she said her husband “got angry and got into her face as she was trying to drive.” When she put her arm up to block him, he bit her arm, the report said. The bite “barely broke her skin” and she elected not to prosecute.
Marvin Arrington, 44, is the son of retired Fulton County Superior Court Judge Marvin Arrington, Sr. The incident will have no bearing on Marvin Arrington, Jr.'s ability to stay in elected office. State law only bars people who have been convicted and sentenced of crimes related to fraudulent violations of election law, malfeasance in office or felonies involving moral turpitude.
In a statement, Fulton County Chairman John Eaves called the situation “a serious matter” but said the county will respect the Arringtons’ privacy.
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