Man says he put his hands on his wife's neck to make her listen

FORT WALTON BEACH – A man told a Fort Walton Beach Police officer he put his hands around his wife’s neck to make her listen. That earned him a felony battery charge.

The alleged battery happened May 15 at a Chestnut Avenue residence. According to an arrest report, officers went to the house after receiving a report of a disturbance.

There, they found a woman crying and holding her neck. Her husband, 57-year-old Jimmy Lee Sturdivant, told them the two began arguing and the dispute became verbal when he put his hands around her neck. He said he did that to make her listen.

Sturdivant has a prior battery conviction in Escambia County, so his current charge is a felony.

His court date is June 25.