Jacksonville officer accused of domestic violence

Woman claims fight began when he demanded to know who she was texting

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville police officer is on administrative leave after he was arrested Tuesday night on a domestic violence charge in St. Johns County.

Under state law, police officers' booking photos are not released and their names are redacted from arrest reports before being released to the public.  The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office confirmed the officer's name as David Ostertag.

According to the arrest report, deputies called to investigate a fight between the man (Ostertag) and a woman who claimed that he became physical after demanding to know who she was texting, knocked her phone out of her hand accused her of cheating on him.

The report say the woman claimed that Ostertag kicked her, shoved her to the floor, sat on top of her and raised his handlike he was going to hit her. She said that she tried to fight him off and bit him on the arm. She told deputies that when he let her up and she made an attempt to leave, he pushed her down onto the bed and slapped her face, knocking her glasses off, cutting her nose in the process. She goes on to say that when she started screaming he covered her face with a pillow until she stopped.  She claimed that when she got free the the next time and locked herself in the bathroom, Ostertag knocked the door down, threw her on the bed and held her there until she fell asleep.

The report says this happened on Monday, but she didn't report it until the next day after a friend convinced her to report the incident.

The report says when Ostertag was questioned when he arrived at the house Tuesday night he said he had been drinking a few beers before going to bed. When he came out, the woman was texting and refused to answer who with and quickly locked her phone. He said when he took the phone from her, she bit him on the arm in order to get it back, then attacked him again. He said once she got her phone back she went into the next room and he heard a loud crash. He told detectives when he went to investigate, she ran into the bathroom screaming that she was in pain.  He said because she locked herself in, he broke down the door to see if she needed help.

Ostertag told deputies that he got her back into bed, even offering to take her to the hospital because she was in pain.

Ostertag was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of domestic battery and booked into the St. Johns County jail. He has since been released.


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Jim Piggott is the reporter to count on when it comes to city government and how it will affect the community.