Police report: Columbia councilman, wife delayed calling police

More than an hour passed before police were called – either by accused Columbia Councilman Moe Baddourah or his estranged wife – in a domestic dispute that landed him in the county jail briefly last week, according to a police record.

Baddourah is said to have raised a clenched fist at his estranged wife in the parking lot of Rockaway’s Athletic Club restaurant and bar but did not strike her, according to accounts in a Richland County Sheriff’s Department incident report obtained Tuesday by The State newspaper.

The argument between Moe Baddourah and Carrie Rhett was sparked by his unwillingness for the children, ages 4 and 6, to take to his estranged wife’s home certain toys they played with during visitation with him on June 29, the report states.

Rhett then snatched the councilman’s mobile phone and took it to her car, according to the report. He chased her and shoved her into the car door frame, “then slammed the front door of the vehicle on her.” The reporting deputy used the verbs “snatched,” “chased” and “slammed” in characterizing the account he was given by Rhett’s sister, who was at the scene.

The conflict happened between 6 p.m. and 6:15 p.m., the report states. But when a Columbia police officer arrived at 10:01 p.m. at the popular restaurant in the Rosewood neighborhood, Baddourah would not talk, citing a conflict of interest because the police department answers indirectly to City Council, which also sets its annual budget. A Richland deputy, requested by Baddourah, arrived at 10:39 p.m., the report shows.

Baddourah, a 53-year-old, two-term councilman, told the Columbia officer he initially was not going to call police. But Baddourah’s lawyer advised him to make a report.

The councilman called 911 at 7:30 p.m. saying he wanted a record of the incident so Rhett could not “start lying about what happened,” according to a tape of the call. He told the dispatcher that his wife “stole my phone and ran into her car, and she was trying to get away.”

Baddourah responded to the newspaper Tuesday. “I did not assault my wife. In fact, I never touched her,” the councilman wrote in an email. “My only action was to hold the door open – to keep her from locking it with my phone inside it – while I pleaded with her to return the phone.

“The accusation is false, and appears to have been fabricated to gain an advantage in the divorce and custody dispute,” Baddourah wrote.

Rhett told police she did not call them herself because she was scared but did not at first offer a reason for her fear, the report states. She said she also was concerned about getting the children further involved in the dispute.

Efforts by The State Tuesday to reach Rhett, a paralegal, were unsuccessful.

She told authorities she was considering taking the children to the Assessment and Resource Center, a child abuse evaluation, treatment and child advocacy center that’s part of the state Department of Mental Health. It’s not clear from the report whether she did that.

The deputy wrote that Rhett’s sister, whose name is redacted from the report, said she had seen the councilman assault his estranged wife that evening. The couple has been married seven years; they’re separated but their divorce is not final. Rhett received full custody of the children in April, according to the report. The sister said she was there when the confrontation happened. Baddourah told the dispatcher his father-in-law dropped the children off earlier for their visit.

By the time the deputy arrived, Rhett had returned to the home where she is living. The incident report is based largely on what her sister told authorities.

The councilman was charged with the misdemeanor offense of second-degree criminal domestic violence after he turned himself in on Saturday. If convicted, he faces up to three years in prison and or fines as much as $5,000. A judge ordered him to stay away from his wife and children.

The former restaurant owner was hired last year by the University of South Carolina to run the McCutchen House restaurant on the campus Horseshoe and to teach a course on hotel, restaurant and tourism management. He’s paid $80,000.

USC spokesman Wes Hickman said the university is evaluating Baddourah’s situation. But the school does not have a specific employment policy on criminal domestic violence. A policy is being drafted now as part of the governor’s call for more action on the crime, which takes a high toll in South Carolina.

Hickman declined to discuss Baddourah, calling the impact on his employment a personnel matter.

This story was originally published July 5, 2016 at 8:17 PM with the headline "Police report: Columbia councilman, wife delayed calling police."