A South Carolina police officer has been arrested on domestic assault violence charges becoming angry that his girlfriend’s abortion had taken too long.
Officer Sierra Shivers was placed on unpaid leave by the North Charleston Police Department pending the outcome of an internal investigation of the incident.
An affidavit accuses the 38-year-old Shivers of punching the unidentified woman approximately five times in the left side of her face the morning of Jan. 3.
Investigators said Shivers had given the woman a ride to the women’s health clinic to terminate her pregnancy but became angry about 11 a.m. because the procedure had made him late for work.
The officer said the delay had gotten in the way of him filling out required paperwork when he arrived at the police station, the affidavit shows.
Police said Shivers told the woman not to say anything about the assault before dropping her off at a hotel.
The woman called police later that day, and officers said her face was still swollen when they met with her about 6:30 a.m. Monday.
The woman told deputies that Shivers had been pressuring her to have an abortion and threatened to have her loved ones arrested using planted evidence if she did not.
She was 10 weeks pregnant when she had the abortion, authorities said.
