A Floyd County father has been arrested on kidnapping and a litany of other charges following a reported domestic altercation at his home on Blacks Bluff Road. Ronnie Antonio Martin, age 40, engaged in a physical dispute which escalated to Martin allegedly choking a 34-year-old woman, throwing her to the ground, and resulting in her losing consciousness; during this encounter, he also took her cell phone, according to WRGA News.
Following the dispute, which occurred in front of two children, it's said that Martin woke up his 11-year-old son and then left with the child, and despite his biological tie, Martin does not possess custodial rights, FOX 5 Atlanta reported. The child's current whereabouts have not been disclosed by authorities yet details surrounding the charges imply a night marred by violence that transcended human bonds to involve an attack on the family dog as well.
Aside from kidnapping, Martin is facing charges including aggravated assault, theft by taking, battery, cruelty to animals, and two counts each of cruelty to children in the first and third degree. The assault inflicted injuries upon the female victim which included a busted hand as well as cuts and bruising along her legs, neck, face, and body.
The ongoing investigation by Floyd County Police aims to unravel the full scope of the incident; however, the documented charges sketch a scene where control and fury spilled over into acts of violence, leaving a trail of physical and emotional wreckage and deep concern for the affected boy and his family, its future implications are as yet unwritten but the law has intervened to assert some measure of order and protection. No further information has been released at this time concerning the child or the formal proceedings against Mister Martin.
