After Pensacola police arrested a 35-year-old man Monday following a SWAT standoff in Gonzalez Court , a new report shows the situation began over an argument about a cellphone.
Joe McPherson Williams is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without the intent to kill and misdemeanor battery after his on-again-off-again girlfriend managed to escape and notify officers he had a gun.
A police report says the entire situation began because McPherson Williams was searching through his girlfriend’s phone while she was sleeping.
“She said when she woke up and went into the living room, she observed Williams going through her phone,” the report said. “She said he saw something he didn’t like in her phone and proceeded to get angry.”
After McPherson Williams became angry, they both got into an argument at which point he began striking his girlfriend in the head with closed fists, the report says. However, the woman said he stopped hitting her when her 4-year-old child entered the room.