DOCUMENT: Celebrity, Crime

Romney Photo Spurs Domestic Abuse Incident

Suspect mistook GOP pol for girlfriend's sidepiece

Mitt Romney

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Boyfriend Mitt Romney

JULY 31--Suspicious that his live-in girlfriend was planning an affair, a Tennessee man confronted the woman after spotting a photo of an unknown guy on her Facebook page, according to a police report.

Lowell Turpin, 40, “angrily demanded to know who the male was,” reported Anderson County Sheriff’s Department investigators.

Crystal Gray, 38, “replied that it was a picture of Mitt Romney.”

Despite being informed that the man on Gray’s wall was the presumptive Republican presidential candidate (and not some hunky, severely conservative sidepiece), Turpin apparently was not placated. Gray said that he “became upset because she was attempting to communicate with friends through her Facebook account.”

In a subsequent tussle over the laptop, Gray’s hand was injured as she unsuccessfully tried to stop Turpin form smashing the computer against the wall. Gray told deputies that Turpin, pictured in the above mug shot, also punched her in the face during the encounter.

While denying that he assaulted Gray, the 310-pound Turpin gave probers “multiple contradictory accounts of the struggle over the laptop.” Turpin was charged with domestic assault in connection with the July 22 incident at the couple’s Clinton residence.

Turpin remains locked up in the Anderson County jail in lieu of $1000 bond. (2 pages)