In the latest domestic altercation involving Ryan Anderson, the 21-year-old Mountain Home man has been accused by his former girlfriend, Joey Lewin, with attacking her, shoving her down, cracking the back of her skull open and throwing various objects at her — including screwdrivers, a hammer and a jar of peanut butter.
Anderson appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday and entered a not guilty plea to the latest charges against him.
Lewin filed new information Monday in a case where she has sought orders of protection against Anderson, with whom she lived at one point. The couple shares a child, and Lewin claims to have been 13-weeks pregnant when the latest domestic altercation happened. However, she does not assert Anderson is the father of the unborn child in her affidavit filed in the order of protection case.
A recent press release from Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery contains information concerning the latest incident, which took place August 11th at a residence along County Road 28 where Lewin is reported to live with her parents.
In the release, Montgomery says when deputies responded to the report of a domestic disturbance at the County Road 28 address, they found Lewin holding a blood-stained cloth to the rear of her head.
Anderson is said to have left the residence on foot by the time the deputies arrived. He was arrested soon after on the parking lot of a business a short distance away.
Lewin alleges in her latest order of protection filing Anderson had come to her residence and a confrontation ensued, beginning as a “verbal screaming match” and eventually turning into what she described as a sustained physical attack. She claims Anderson was apparently angered by the idea she might be thinking of moving away with the couple’s children. She says Anderson shoved her down, hit her with his hands, grabbed her throat and pushed her in the stomach.
She said, despite her efforts to stop the confrontation, Anderson continued the attack, repeatedly shoving her down and striking her.
Lewin said she was taken by ambulance to Baxter Regional Medical Center for treatment of her injuries.
Anderson has a somewhat different story. He said he was invited to the residence along County Road 28 and he and Lewin got into an argument. He said he tried to leave, but Lewin blocked the way, and he had to shove his way past her to get out of the house.
The couple have had a number of altercations stretching back to last year. It was at Lewin’s request one set of domestic battery charges filed earlier against Anderson were dismissed in January.
As part of the request to dismiss, Lewin was required to appear before Circuit Judge Gordon Webb to explain why she did not want the case prosecuted. Lewin told Judge Webb she wanted the charges dropped for a variety of reasons. She said the dismissal would allow Anderson to interact with their newly born daughter. She also claimed the incident resulting in the charges had been a “one time thing” brought on by financial and other stresses the couple faced.
The state objected to the dismissal, but Judge Webb granted the request saying Lewin’s claims that domestic violence was not a frequent occurrence between Anderson and Lewin, and her statement she would feel safe living with Anderson both played a big part in his decision.
After the dismissal, Anderson and Lewin were involved in another domestic altercation in April this year. A deputy was sent to the residence along County Road 28 where he found Anderson and Lewin outside. According to information contained in the report on that incident, the deputy said Anderson and Lewin began arguing after he arrived as to how the situation had come about and why law enforcement had been called.
Lewin said she confronted Anderson about him texting. She said Anderson hit her in the mouth and began shoving her. She said the couple had been having problems “for the last few days” at that point.
Anderson said the argument had been triggered by the fact Lewin and her parents had not been willing to give him rides to fill out job applications. He said the incident escalated leading Lewin to call the sheriff’s office.
At one point, Anderson said he grabbed Lewin’s cellphone and told the 911 dispatcher with whom she had been speaking there had been drug activity at the County Road 28 residence.
After the April incident, prosecutors refiled the original charges dismissed at Lewin’s request and filed new charges stemming from the April altercation.
Anderson remains in the Baxter County jail. He is set to reappear in circuit court next week.
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