CHICKASAW, Alabama — A Chunchula man is behind bars in the Mobile County Metro Jail after Chickasaw police said he attacked a woman inside a home on Hillside Drive and refused to let her seek help for hours afterward.
Argument turns violent
According to the Chickasaw Police Department, Robert Arthur Cooley, 44, got into an argument with a woman at a residence in the 300 block of Hillside Drive that escalated from shouting into physical violence. Investigators said Cooley came up behind the woman and choked her until she passed out. When she regained consciousness, officers said her face, arm and leg were bruised badly enough that she could barely walk without limping.
Held until early morning
Police said the woman was not permitted to leave the home, call 911 or get medical treatment until roughly 2 a.m. the following day, well after the assault occurred. Officers said that delay became the basis for an additional charge of interfering with a domestic violence emergency call, on top of the assault itself.
Multiple charges filed
Cooley was booked earlier in the week on charges that include second-degree domestic violence, domestic violence by strangulation, second-degree unlawful imprisonment and interference with a domestic violence emergency call, Chickasaw police confirmed. As of the department’s update, he remained in custody at Mobile County Metro Jail while the case moved through the court system.
The Hillside Drive neighborhood sits in the small city of Chickasaw, just north of Prichard in Mobile County, and the case is a reminder of how strangulation-related domestic violence charges have become a specific focus for local police departments across the region. Advocates note that loss of consciousness during a domestic assault is treated as a significant aggravating factor under Alabama law, often elevating charges beyond a standard assault count.
Chickasaw police did not release additional details about a bond amount or an arraignment date as the investigation continued.