Domestic assault charges filed in Bible-thumping, floor-dragging incident

Charles J. Simpson is being held in the Ozark County Jail without bond in connection with an alleged domestic assault incident on July 15. 

According to the probable cause statement prepared by Ozark County Deputy Jeff Lane, the officer was dispatched to a residence on KK Highway in Pottersville at 1:37 a.m. July 15. 

When he arrived, he spoke with a woman who said Simpson hit her in the face with a Bible, squeezed her arm and drug her across the floor, breaking glass along the way. 

Lane noticed that the woman had redness and swelling on her face and around her right arm. There was also a mark on her neck, he noted. 

“Mr. Simpson was sitting in a recliner. When asked what had happened between him and [the woman]…he replied he was trying to read her the word from his Bible, and she would not listen. When asked if he struck [the woman], Mr. Simpson said yes,” the report says. 

Lane informed Simpson that he was under arrest for the incident, and Simpson told the officer he would not go with him. Lane attempted to place Simpson in handcuffs, and the suspect reportedly became non-compliant. 

“After a brief altercation Mr. Simpson was placed in a vehicle and transported to the Ozark County Jail for a 24-hour hold with charges pending,” the report says. 

Simpson is charged with second-degree domestic assault and resisting arrest in connection with the incident. The prosecutor has noted that Simpson is a prior domestic violence offender due to a 2021 domestic assault conviction (for an incident occurring June 20, 2020), which raises the level of punishment if convicted. 

He was scheduled to appear before Circuit Judge Raymond Gross Tuesday to be arraigned on the charges.