Cop accused of kicking his girlfriend and threatening ‘to shoot her’ if she reported it
A Miccosukee Police Department officer whose wife filed for a domestic violence restraining order against him in 2013 was arrested Friday on a misdemeanor battery-domestic violence charge.
According to Pembroke Pines police, 38-year-old Robert Downer escalated a 6 a.m. argument with his girlfriend by kicking her while she was in the bathroom. Pines police say she showed bruises on her lower back and left upper arm.
Pines police said Downer’s girlfriend told them that as she lay on the floor, the six-foot, 219-pound Downer tried to break her phone to prevent any police contact and Downer “threatened to shoot her if she reported this incident to the police.”
Upon being contacted by Pines police, Downer turned himself in later Friday.
Marriage license and court records say Downer’s then-wife had a temporary restraining order against him for domestic violence for two and a half months in 2013. They divorced in 2017.
When the Herald phoned the Miccosukkee Police Department to inquire about Downer’s status, the person who answered the phone cut off the reporter at the mention of Downer’s arrest with “and the department has no comment, thank you for calling” and hung up.
This story was originally published January 14, 2019 at 11:11 AM.
