VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WVEC) -- A sergeant with Virginia Beach Police Department's is being investigated after his wife said he pushed her downstairs at their home.
Shawn Walter Hoffman, 57, faces a misdemeanor charge of Assault and Battery of a Family Member.
Emergency dispatchers received a call about a domestic problem in the 2400 block of Smokehouse Rd. around 11:50 p.m. Saturday. Hoffman's wife, Rhonda, told police that he pushed her down steps. Court documents state that officers noted that Rhonda "had visible injuries to her elbow and knee consistent with falling." Hoffman said he did not push her.
It was Rhonda's daughter who called the police, according to a statement the daughter wrote on July 1:
I walked into my house and my mom was sitting on the floor just below the stairs. I asked her what happened and she shook her head. Then my step dad said loudly "I didn't push her." and she responded with "Yes he did." I saw that the dog gat that was on the stairs, broken in half on the floor. Then I saw my mom's elbow bleeding. Then my dad kept saying "I didn't push her" "I'd end my career" then he started crying intensly and went upstairs and went in his closet and I heard him load a gun, then I heard a click. He barly/half way stepped out of his room sobbing and said "I did not push your mother!" then I went out back to call the police.
Hoffman is one of six sergeants assigned to the Virginia Beach Police Department's Internal Affairs Division. He has been with the department for 35 years. Because of the situation, the commanding officer of internal affairs reassigned and relocated Hoffman during the administrative investigation.
Hoffman was released on an unsecured $5,000 bond. If convicted, he faces up to a year in prison and a $2,500 fine.
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