Husband Busted In Fight Over Thermostat

APRIL 29--An 87-year-old Florida Man was arrested yesterday for domestic battery after tangling with his wife when she sought to turn the air conditioning down in the couple’s residence, cops allege.

Long a source of marital strife, control of the thermostat triggered a 7 AM confrontation Monday between Charles Ingram and his 85-year-old spouse, according to an arrest affidavit.

Investigators say Ingram returned to the couple’s St. Petersburg home and “argued with the victim, his wife, about the air conditioner.” The woman “touched the thermostat to turn the air down,” prompting Ingram to allegedly push the victim “away from the thermostat against the wall.”

When questioned by police, Ingram reportedly “admitted...to pushing her first and then stated that the victim pushed him back.”

Pictured above, Ingram was arrested for domestic violence, with the charge enhanced to a felony due to his prior battery convictions that date back more than four decades (Ingram's rap sheet also includes a 1985 felony welfare fraud conviction).

Ingram is scheduled to appear in court this afternoon. A judge will likely order him to have no contact with his wife and bar him from returning to the couple’s residence, which they purchased in 1971. (1 page)