Teen Assaulted, Flees Vehicle Pleading for Help

A Dacula teen was reportedly choked and had her head slammed into a car window during a Feb. 12 altercation with a 16-year-old ex-boyfriend.

Police were called to the intersection of Hamilton Mill Parkway and Highland Forge Trail after a Hamilton Mill resident saw a young girl crying in the street. According to the resident, the girl had exited a vehicle and run up to a truck approaching from the opposite direction. The resident said the girl was “obviously terrified” and was cowering, shaking and crying. The resident advised the people inside the truck were the father and brother of the victim.

When interviewed by police, the victim said she and her ex-boyfriend had dated for approximately six months before the relationship ended. The victim said the ex-boyfriend “was not taking it well” and had continued to call and text her. On the day of the incident, the ex-boyfriend called and asked the victim to pick him up from a friend’s house so they could talk “one last time” since they were breaking up. The victim agreed and said as soon as her ex-boyfriend got in the car he grabbed her phone and began going through her text messages.

According to the victim, the ex-boyfriend became furious when he saw text messages from other boys in her phone. The victim said he punched the windshield of the car causing it to crack and then demanded she drive to a location where he could read the remaining texts. The victim ordered the ex-boyfriend to get out of the car, but he screamed at her and began to choke her allegedly saying, “Drive you dumb [expletive deleted].”

When the victim said she was taking him back to his friend’s house, the ex-boyfriend reportedly grabbed her head and slammed it up against the driver’s side window. The victim ran from the car, but the ex-boyfriend caught her and allegedly picked her up and slammed her onto the hood of the car. The victim tried to get back in the car and escape, but the ex-boyfriend was also able to get back in the car and instructed her to drive to the house of the boy she had been texting.

According to the police report, the victim began driving towards her home hoping her father would be there. Shortly thereafter, she spotted her father’s truck, stopped the car and ran towards his vehicle.

The officer noted the victim had a large bump on her forehead and that her left cheek was red. The ex-boyfriend denied choking the victim or slamming her head into the window. He admitted breaking the windshield, but offered to pay for the damage.

A juvenile intake officer instructed the officer to release the ex-boyfriend into his mother’s custody. The matter has been forwarded to juvenile court.

WebMD reports that teen dating violence is common with as many as two in 10 teen girls reporting a dating partner has physically or sexually abused them. One in 10 teen boys also report abuse.

WebMD advises teens who think they may be in an abusive relationship to contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (1-800-799-7233) or the National Teen Dating Abuse Hotline at 1-866-331-9474.

For more information about detecting and preventing teen dating violence, visit the Partnership Against Domestic Violence website or call the Gwinnett County hotline at 770-963-9799.