A Wildwood man was arrested for battery after allegedly strangling his girlfriend when she tried to stop her daughter from playing with him.
An officer responded to Cypress Commons, located at 775 Huey St., for a battery involving 38-year-old Aaron Lavarus Washington around 1:20 p.m. Monday, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department.
Upon arrival, the officer met Washington’s girlfriend of 16 years and the mother of his two children. She advised that her daughter had gone into the backyard to play with him at his request. He had a long history of mental illness and recent Baker Acts, so she was wary of her daughter playing with him, the report said.
Washington then got her daughter’s shoes from inside the house and went back outside. He did not answer when his girlfriend asked why he needed the shoes. She feared he would take her daughter somewhere, and given his recent mental state, she was worried about her daughter’s safety. She tried to open the back door to tell her to come inside, but Washington closed the door on her foot, the report said…