LAS VEGAS, NEVADA: Nathan Griffith, a 'Teen Mom' celebrity, has been arrested and detained for reportedly strangling a family member in Las Vegas, according to The US Sun. Nathan was arrested in Sin City on July 12 and brought into the Clark County Jail on a $5,000 bond.
This is not Nathan's first run-in with the law. The US Sun stated in February that Nathan was detained in Delray Beach, Florida, and charged with domestic abuse by strangulation. The reality star seemed awake and unconcerned in his mugshot, which was released to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's prisoner site, while he was an inmate in the Palm Beach County jail. According to TMZ, officers got a 911 call from Nathan's brother-in-law, William, who said Nathan "lost it," strangled an unidentified lady, and carried her up the stairs.
Why did Nathan Griffith get arrested again?
Nathan's sister claims he "nearly killed" her when he choked her in a rage before being arrested for violence on July 12. Heather Griffith, Nathan's elder sister, spoke exclusively to The US Sun about the terrifying event that resulted in her brother being arrested in Sin City and booked into the Clark County Jail on Wednesday night for violence by strangulation.
"He tried to kill me, his own sister," Heather said about her brother. She stated he had been staying with her and her husband, a friend of Nathan's from their military days. "My husband went out of town yesterday, and Nate had been sober at least a week, so he decided that he was going to drink immediately, as soon as my husband left. That's when the threats and everything started." "He said to me, 'Well, you know who is not home to protect you.'"
"He would not let me leave the house. He came across the kitchen, and he started doing what he does to all women—he started choking me," Heather claimed, referring to Nathan's February arrest in Florida for domestic violence by strangulation. Nathan's Florida accusations were eventually withdrawn because the victim "refused to cooperate" with the investigating officers. "He threw me on the ground and got on top of me, and told me I was going to die. That he was going to kill me."
"In between sessions of him choking me, because he's trying to make me blackout, I said, 'Nate, I'm your sister, how can you do this to me?' And he's like, 'I don't care. You're going to die.' Finally, when he stopped choking me for like the fifth time, I put my knees to my chest as best as I could and kicked him across the room and ran out the door."
She stated that she initially sought to see if the cops would not arrest the father of two. "First I tried to even see if they wouldn't arrest him, to just let Veterans Affairs take him, but the marks on me were so severe that they said they didn't have a choice."
"They said that even if I did say I didn't want him to go to jail, they can't just slap him on the wrist. They said he has to go to jail, now. They arrested him on the spot. And it's so hard to see your little brother go through that. But at the same time, he wasn't caring about me when he had his hands around my neck."
In terms of her immediate future, Heather stated that an automatic temporary restraining order is in effect due to Nathan's domestic violence arrest. Heather was relieved to see her brother caught, but she was concerned that the scenario she was in with him could have turned deadly. "He really tried to kill me. I literally got myself into a situation where he was not going to stop. He told me I was gonna die. He told me it was going to kill me. And seriously, if I wasn't able to get him off me, I probably would be dead right now."
'People need to know that it's okay to press charges'
Heather hopes that this serves as a warning to those who are dealing with domestic abuse. "People need to know that it's okay to press charges. You're not a bad person if you do it. As a matter of fact, you're probably helping that person. I want people to know that no one is allowed to hurt you. No one is allowed to make you feel unsafe in your own home, even if it's your own little brother."
"You have a right to protect yourself, and you're not helping somebody by letting them get away with harming you or themselves. Nate is harming himself by harming me. He's harming his innocent children by harming me. It's got to stop, it's going to stop. I don't care what I have to do, but he's not going to do this again."
