Charges against Kansas Rep. Aaron Coleman stem from dispute with relative: report
Kansas Rep. Aaron Coleman, 21, was charged Monday morning with misdemeanor domestic battery.
Though little information was immediately available through court and police records, a family member’s interview with media and scanner traffic from the night of the arrest offer some additional details into what led up to the accusation against the freshman lawmaker.
Coleman — a Kansas City, Kansas, Democrat with a history of alleged abusive behavior — was arrested Saturday night by Overland Park police.
Police have not said where the incident Saturday occurred. Scanner traffic captured by Broadcastify.com, however, showed at about 7:45 p.m., dispatchers said they got a call of a “verbal” at an address listed in public records as belonging to Coleman’s grandmother.
Dispatchers described the call as a “verbal” between the person who called 911 and an “unknown subject.” The caller, they said, stated his phone was stolen and he got it back. The caller also advised there was a domestic dispute.
Coleman’s grandmother, Marsha Tomberlin, who is also listed as his treasurer, told The Topeka Capital-Journal that she witnessed Coleman and a male relative argue over “religious beliefs” before Coleman claimed the family member took his phone.
When reached by phone Monday, Tomberlin told The Star she was busy and could not talk at that moment.
Tomberlin told the Capital-Journal that Coleman was the one who called 911 and that the relative did not want to press charges, the newspaper reported.
“It was an incident and the newspaper blew it up,” Tomberlin told the Capital-Journal. “He and (the family member) got in an argument — that’s it.”
In a complaint filed Monday against Coleman, the assistant district attorney stated the victim in the case is either someone Coleman has dated, a relative or a household member. Further details of the allegations were not immediately detailed in provided court records.
Overland Park police took Coleman into custody at 8:15 p.m. Saturday. He was booked at 12:45 a.m. Sunday into the Johnson County jail, where he remained early Monday afternoon, according to jail records.
Coleman on Monday was charged with the misdemeanor in Johnson County District Court for allegedly “unlawfully, knowingly, or recklessly” causing bodily harm or physical contact Saturday with a person in a “rude, insulting, or angry manner,” court records show.
Coleman’s arraignment is set for 2:30 p.m. Monday. David Bell, one of Coleman’s attorneys, declined to comment prior to the court hearing.
The criminal charge adds to a history of alleged abusive and inappropriate behavior by Coleman. An ex-girlfriend has previously accused Coleman of choking and slapping her, and he has previously acknowledged the use of revenge porn as a middle school student.
In the wake of his weekend arrest, House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer, a Wichita Democrat, called on Coleman to resign and other legislators also said he was unfit to serve and should step down. Coleman has brushed aside past resignation calls, however, even as he previously apologized and promised to do better.
A special legislative committee that investigated Coleman in January found that he had engaged in abusive behavior toward women, but issued only an informal letter of warning that advised him to get a mentor, in part because legislators said the alleged conduct happened prior to his election in November 2020.
It isn’t clear whether the Legislature will again investigate Coleman. To trigger an investigation, a lawmaker must file a formal complaint.
