Tuscaloosa police captain arrested on felony after allegedly choking woman who looked through his phone

A Tuscaloosa police captain is on leave after a weekend arrest on a felony domestic violence charge.

Capt. Kermit Thomas “Kip” Hart III, 57, was taken into custody Sunday after a woman claimed he grabbed her by the throat and started to choke her while she was looking through his phone for text messages to another woman.

Hart is the commander of the Tuscaloosa Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division.

Hart was released from the Tuscaloosa County Jail on bond Monday, and court records made public Tuesday chronicle the events that led up to his arrest.

Officers were dispatched at 12:33 a.m. Sunday to the woman’s home but found her at a neighbor’s house in only a shirt and underwear, according to a deposition in the case.

The woman had red markings on her neck but did not seem to have bruising.

The woman told officers she and Hart had been in a relationship since 2019.

She “stated that Hart had a previous affair and stated that it hasn’t been an issue in their relationship until about three weeks when the topic came back up because (the woman) had seen Hart deleting messages from his phone,” the officer wrote.

The woman said she was able to see in Hart’s phone that he was texting a woman through a Google text app.

She said while she was looking through his phone, Hart woke up and became aggressive to her, grabbing her by the throat and trying to choke her.

The woman said she threw the phone on the floor, and the struggle continued until she was thrown floor.

She reported she got back up and said Hart began to choke her again with the crease of his elbow, “causing obstruction to her airway.”

The woman said she never lost consciousness but was having a difficult time breathing while screaming for help.

Hart, she said, kept putting his hands over her mouth and stating, “Shut the (expletive) up.”

“Deputy Skelton did not observe any markings on the throat but did observe dried blood underneath her right nostril, possibly from Hart covering her mouth and nose,” according to the deposition.

Hart was not at the home when police arrived but was in custody by 3 a.m.

Hart told investigators at police headquarters that he woke up to the woman hitting him on the head, accusing him of talking to another woman.

Hart said he was hit on the left side of his neck and his left cheek.

“Deputies observed redness and swelling on that area,” the report states.

“Hart stated after he was hit for a third time, he wrapped her up and told her to calm down when she began to scream for help.”

Hart said he put his hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming.

The woman ran outside, he told investigators, so he grabbed his things and left.

“He stated he did not choke her but did put his hands over her mouth,” the report states.

Hart was arrested and held in the Tuscaloosa County Jail for a 24-hour domestic violence hold. The report states Hart has no prior domestic violence convictions.

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