COLUMBUS – Columbus police made nearly a dozen arrests over Super Bowl weekend in a roundup of domestic violence fugitives as the office of City Attorney Zach Klein turns its focus on domestic violence and stalking during February, which is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month.
Klein released a public service announcement highlighting the threat of stalking, which affects between six and seven million Americans, though statistics indicate teens are more likely to be victimized. One in six women will be stalked in their lifetime while one in three teens will experience some form of physical or emotional abuse by someone they are dating, Klein said.
The Domestic Violence and Stalking Unit in Klein’s office listed 50 suspects Klein says are considered “worst of the worst” fugitives who allegedly committed domestic violence offenses between August and December and were not in custody and rounded up 11 of them during the three-day operation which was carried out between Feb. 2 and Feb. 4.
“These are the worst of the worst offenders who may be back in their previous living situations, which would be an obvious threat to their children and families,” Klein said in a release announcing the operation.
The weekend of the Super Bowl has frequently been cited as one of the worst times of the year for domestic violence.
The suspects on the list were picked based on criteria such as a “lethality assessment,” a history of violence or of weapons violations, whether they had used a gun in previous domestic violence incidents or had targeted a pregnant women.