Columbus news anchor charged after dispute with son

WLTZ news anchor Dee Armstrong was arrested early Friday after a dispute with her son, according to Columbus police.

Armstrong, who previously worked with WTVM, faces one count of simple battery. She was booked into the Muscogee County Jail for an 8 a.m. Saturday hearing in Recorder’s Court.

Columbus police were called to the 4200 block of Pickering Drive around 4:17 a.m. Friday to investigate a domestic dispute.

Armstrong’s son told police that he was lying on the bed watching a motivational video when she came into the room and began talking to him about God. He allegedly told her to keep her “beliefs to herself.”

He said that’s when she got mad and punched him on the left side of his face, near his eye. He said he grabbed her shoulders and held her against the wall, so she wouldn’t strike him again.

He said she started to yell that she had no clothes on and he was trying to hurt her.

The victim told police that he didn’t have any “evil” tendencies and that he wouldn’t harm her. He let her go and sat back on the bed before gathering his belongings to leave, according to a police report.

Officials said the incident left the victim with bruises on his left cheek near his eye, but Armstrong didn’t complain of any injuries.

When giving her account of the incident, Armstrong told police she was getting ready for work when she saw that her son was still awake. She said she believes he is an atheist and was watching motivational videos.

She said she went into the room to tell him, “Whatever you are searching for, the answer is God.”

Armstrong said her son then told her it was 4 a.m. and she needed to leave. She allegedly didn’t leave but asked why he was speaking with her in that manner.

She said that’s when he grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her against the wall in the bathroom. She told him she had no clothes on under her bath robe and to let her go, according to her statement to police.

She told police she called authorities to get her son removed from her residence.

She stated she may have hit her son when he pushed her into the wall. She allegedly told police that it only made “sense.” She also stated he is a mixed martial arts student and the injuries could have been a result of that, according to the report.

Officials said the bruising to his face and eye looked new.

This story was originally published March 16, 2018 at 12:10 PM with the headline "Columbus news anchor charged after dispute with son."