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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Jealous Fort McCoy man charged with battering woman

Joshua Todd Harbin
Joshua Todd Harbin

A 32-year-old Fort McCoy man was arrested the day after he reportedly battered a woman in a jealous rage and threatened to kill two witnesses if they tried to help the victim.

At around 9 p.m. Sunday, the woman who reported the incident told a Marion County sheriff’s deputy she saw the victim and Joshua Todd Harbin in a verbal altercation on the side of a road. She said it appeared the victim was in trouble, so she pulled over to see if she needed help. The location of the incident was redacted from the sheriff’s office report.

The witness said Harbin yelled at her and said if she helped the victim, he would kill them. Another witness, who was in the car with the reporting party, said he saw Harbin pulling the victim by the arm and shoulder area while trying to get the victim to follow him. He said Harbin threatened to kill him if he tried to help the victim. The witness said Harbin let go of the victim and walked off after a short verbal altercation, according to the report.

The victim said she had walked to gas station to pick up a few things when she started talking to another guy, which made Harbin irate. She said when she was walking towards the incident location, Harbin came up from behind her, grabbed her and pulled her across the road. The victim said that is when the witnesses stopped to help her and she got into their vehicle to get away from Harbin, the report said.

The victim did not appear to be injured. The deputy tried to contact Harbin, whose cell phone was turned off. Harbin was located on Monday and arrested and charged with simple domestic battery. He was taken to the Marion County Jail, where he was released Thursday on $1,000 bond. Harbin is due to appear in Marion County Court on June 15.