Kabir Karriem’s adult daughter has accused the state representative of punching her three times in the head, according to documents the city of Columbus provided to The Dispatch Friday afternoon.
The city released the documents in response to The Dispatch’s Open Records Act request and provided no further comment on the matter.
Karriem, a former Columbus councilman who now represents District 41 in the Mississippi House of Representatives — a district that includes a portion of Columbus — turned himself in at Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday morning. He was later released on his own recognizance.
According to the incident report, Columbus police officer Eric Potts responded at about 7:45 p.m. Monday to the alleged victim’s 911 call to a parking lot near the intersection of Military Road and 14th Avenue North.
Upon arriving, Potts reported the female said she had gotten into a verbal altercation with her parents earlier that evening before leaving their 1326 15th St. N. residence and walking west on 14th Avenue North.
Karriem later drove up in a van to the back parking lot of Swoope Real Estate where he spotted her walking. She told the officer Karriem then allegedly exited the van and punched her three times with a closed fist.
The assault stopped, she told the officer, when Karriem’s van rolled backward into a sign on the Swoope property. While her father ran to the van to shift it into park, she said she ran back home to retrieve her phone and called her friends to come pick her up at Wheeler Roofing on Military Road. After arriving at Wheeler, she said she called 911.
The officer saw no visible signs of injury and reported the alleged victim said she “didn’t want to cause her father any problems because of his position.”
Later that night, Karriem contacted CPD Assistant Chief Fred Shelton and met him at the corner of 15th Avenue and 12th Street North, according to a statement from Shelton the city also released.
During that meeting, Shelton said Karriem admitted to hitting his daughter because she had been “disrespectful.” After communicating with Potts and Police Chief Oscar Lewis, Shelton said he informed Karriem he would be charged with simple assault-domestic violence and agreed to let the representative turn himself in the next morning.
But Shelton’s statement said Karriem called him later Monday and denied having hit his daughter. He then told Shelton he didn’t want to go to jail over the incident.
Still, Shelton met Karriem at the jail Tuesday morning, where he arrested and booked the representative.
Austin Vollor, a Starkville attorney representing Karriem, released a statement Wednesday suggesting Karriem’s arrest was politically motivated.
Earlier Wednesday, on the “Karriem and Company” radio show, Karriem emphasized he is a “loving and protecting father” before any of his duties as a politician or businesses owner. He further promised the “truth is going to come out.”
“Columbus is a very, very mean-spirited place, and you have some mean-spirited people in Columbus,” Karriem said during the broadcast.
Karriem was elected to the District 41 seat in 2015. Prior to that, he served as councilman for Columbus’ Ward 5. He was elected to the council seat in 2009.
He was also arrested in April 2010 for simple assault after a scuffle with Mayor Robert Smith at City Hall. That charge was later dropped.
Karriem, via text, referred all questions to his attorney.
Vollor declined to comment further on the matter when reached Friday afternoon.
Reporter Alex Holloway contributed to this report.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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