SWEETWATER, Tenn. — For an eastern Tennessee couple, an argument was all about that bass — guitar, that is — and led to a domestic assault charge.
According to Monroe County Sheriff’s Office online arrest records, Robert Latella, 45, of Sweetwater, was taken into custody on Oct. 22 and charged with assault by domestic violence.
On Oct. 19, Latella and his wife got into an argument in their Sweetwater apartment. According to a report filed by Sweetwater Police Department Officer Chase Atkins, Latella’s wife said she grabbed her husband’s bass guitar during their verbal spat and said she was going to sell it to pay bills, adding that her husband would not give her any money to make household payments.
The woman told police that when she turned her wheelchair around and headed toward the couple’s bedroom, Latella allegedly grabbed her from behind and began choking her with his arm.
The victim’s daughter produced a video that allegedly showed Latella grabbing the guitar and putting his hands on his wife. Latella then left with a friend and his wife went to their bedroom, Atkins wrote in his report.
Latella was arrested on Oct. 22, online arrest records show. He was released two days later after posting $1,000 bond.
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