HAWTHORNE, CA—Love is…a pair of reciprocal arrests for spousal battery on a late weekday night.
Samona Michelle Chretten, 19, and Devon Christopher McKillian, 20, were apprehended by Hawthorne police officers on Tuesday, May 26 at approximately 11:35 p.m. The two were picked up along the 11700 block of South Gale Avenue near the intersection of West 124th Street—just seven short blocks from the Hawthorne police department.
They were each arrested for battery of a spouse/ex-spouse (243(E)(1)PC), a charge that is perhaps one of the most dangerous situations for police officers. According to a November, 1986 report in the U.S. Department’s National Institute of Justice newsletter, “Police intervention in disputes between family members is frequently cited as a routine police assignment that is particularly dangerous.” It went on to quote the 1976 Training Key’s “Investigation of Wife Beating” published by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP): “‘Since 1966, 157 officers have lost their lives responding to disturbance calls.’”
None of the officers involved appeared to have been injured, however, as there were no additional charges levied against Chretten and McKillian.
Each were hit with a bail of $20,000.
