Former Nebraska interim football coach Mickey Joseph pushed, punched and choked his wife and pulled her hair during an argument the couple had over infidelity, Lincoln police allege in a court document filed Thursday.
Lancaster County prosecutors charged Joseph, 54, with one felony count of assault by strangulation or suffocation, which is punishable by up to five years of probation or three years of prison. Joseph denied the allegations to police, according to the affidavit. The charge was an upgrade to the two misdemeanors that Lincoln police originally cited when they booked him into jail Wednesday night.
A judge set bail Thursday at 10% of $20,000, meaning Joseph must pay $2,000 to be released. He posted bail and was released. He was ordered to have no contact with his wife.
According to the two-page sworn affidavit of Lincoln Police Officer Steve Redlin:
People are also reading…
Priscilla Joseph, 34, told arriving Lincoln police officers that she and Mickey Joseph have been married for six years. Just before 2 p.m. Wednesday, the two “began arguing about infidelity in the marriage” in their home near 34th Street and Tree Line Drive in south Lincoln.
“Priscilla reported (Mickey) pushed her from the front, causing her to fall onto the couch,” Redlin wrote. “Priscilla advised (Mickey) got on top of her on the couch and placed his hands around her throat. She specifically stated, ‘He pushed me on the couch and strangled me.’”
When officers asked her if she could breathe, she told them: “No, until I pushed him off.”