DOCUMENT: Crime

Cops: Man Beat Ex Over Refusal To Make Kool-Aid

Tennesseean, 31, attacked mother of his infant son

Kool-Aid

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Kool-Aid Assault

DECEMBER 13--A Tennessee man assaulted the mother of his three-month-old son after she refused to make him some Kool-Aid, police report.

Robert Joseph Atkins, 31, was charged with aggravated kidnapping, domestic violence, and violating a protection order following the incident early Monday at the woman’s Knoxville residence. Atkins is pictured in the adjacent mug shot.

The victim told Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies that Atkins, her ex-boyfriend, arrived at her home and refused demands to leave the premises. Around 4:30 AM, Atkins asked the woman “to make him some Kool Aid and after the victim stated no the defendant jumped up and started striking her in the face,” according to an incident report.

Atkins subsequently fled the home with the pair’s infant son (but not before allegedly taking the victim’s keys and cell phone). He was later arrested after being found hiding in the bathroom of a nearby apartment. The baby was returned to his mother, who told deputies that Atkins “had no parental rights to the child.”

Investigators noted that the victim had “a swollen eye and redness and bruising of the skin where she stated the defendant struck her.”

Charged with one felony and three misdemeanors, Atkins is being held in the county jail in lieu of $300,000 bail. He is scheduled for an appearance today in General Sessions court. (2 pages)