An ex-con on parole who is wanted in three counties was arrested in Athens Thursday afternoon after he allegedly assaulted his girlfriend outside a fast food restaurant.
Athens-Clarke County police said they responded around 1:30 p.m. to McDonald’s on U.S. Highway 29 North on a report of a man beating a woman.
Witnesses said they saw 46-year-old Brian Dwayne Buice punching the victim in the head.
The victim, a 33-year-old woman with whom Buice reportedly lives in Griffin, denied she was struck by Buice and told officers he grabbed her by the arm to prevent her from getting in their vehicle, police said. The officers reported finding no bruises on the woman’s body or swelling on her head. Based on her story she’d been grabbed, however, Buice was arrested and charged with simple battery under the state Family Violence Act, police said.
Buice was also charged with a parole violation. According to the Georgia Department of Corrections, he was released from the Thomas County Correctional Institution in February of this year, after having served just under eight years for a robbery conviction in Spalding County. He is a career criminal, according to the DOC, having served five different prison sentences since 1988 for offenses that included theft, forgery and another robbery.
Buice was being held Friday at the Clarke County Jail without bail being set. According to the local sheriff’s office, three different agencies hold warrants for his arrest — the Clayton, Henry and Spalding county sheriff’s offices.
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