By Bonnie Culverhouse
In the early hours Wednesday, Webster Parish Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a Minden location in reference to a disturbance that led to one arrest.
David Lee Beckwith IV, 33, of the 200 block of Winwood Dr., Minden, was charged with domestic abuse with strangulation.
Sheriff Jason Parker said Sgt. M. Hicks and Deputy D. Christian took the call around 2:30 a.m.
“They were advised that a female in the house was being choked by her live-in boyfriend, later identified as Beckwith,” Parker said. “Deputies picked up Beckwith as he was walking down the street. They said he seemed to be intoxicated, and he had several lacerations to his face.”
When deputies asked Beckwith what happened, he reportedly gave “incoherent responses.”
“The victim was walking toward deputies,” said the sheriff. “She said her oldest son called us. She did not want to write a statement but gave us permission to talk to her son.”
The witness told deputies he was awakened by a loud noise in the house. He said he “got up and seen Beckwith choking” the victim.
“The victim declined to file charges and was advised the State would do so,” Parker said. “After he was mirandized, Beckwith admitted to drinking, but he denied choking the victim.”
Beckwith was booked into Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
