Alleged Domestic Abuse Victim says Mother is Victim of Abuse at Hands of Police

For 13 years, Deana Sullivan says she used make-up, long sleeves, and forced smiles to cover the signs of black eyes, sprained wrists, and beatings at the hands of her husband Robert Sullivan.

"I'm tired of being ashamed, i'm tired of being afraid, and i'm ready to fight back," Deana says.

Many of the beatings happened while her children watched.

"They heard him tell me that he was gonna kill me, they saw him choke me," Deana says, crying. "I wanted to protect them. I didn't want them to see any of that, but they did."

Two months ago when one of those beatings sent her to the hospital, Deana decided enough is enough.

"I decided i didn't want to die," she says. "I didn't want to die under his hand."

Deana filed charges and her husband was arrested.

Mark Napier, Sullivan's stepfather, called late Wednesday afternoon to defend his stepson. He says Robert is not a violent person and denies that he has ever beaten his ex-wife. Napier says Deana is making false accusations, and that Sullivan has been illegally arrested.

The criminal case against Sullivan has been passed four times in the last two months. During that time, Deana got an ex-parte order of protection. But arrest reports show Sullivan has violated that order at least five times.

The most recent time, Deana says, her husband wasn't the only one who violated her trust. Saturday, Sullivan showed up at the house and once again, Deana called for help and an officer arrived moments later. Deana's son began taking pictures using a cell phone. The pictures show East Ridge Officer Wade escorting Sullivan to a patrol car. But he says the situation became combative. In the incident report, Officer Wade says Deana and her family "were crowding the patrol car while taking pictures" and asked them to step away from the scene. Wade says they refused.

Deana denies those allegations, and points to the pictures where she and her family can be seen anywhere from 10-20 feet away from the arresting officer.

Not long after, Deana's mother tried to show the officer the order of protection. Officer Wade escorted Barbra Keys to her car, but he says, when he asked for the document and told her to get back in the car, she refused to listen to him. That's when Deana says her mother, who has Stage Four leukemia, was assaulted. Pictures show her mother in handcuffs. Deana says the officer dragged her mother and forced her to the ground, by sweeping her feet out from underneath her. A picture shows the officer's leg behind Keys' body. The next picture shows her sitting on the ground with the officers hands on her shoulders.

"He was controlling her by having her sit down, but he never actually leg swept her or anything of that nature. There's no indication that he acted outside of policy," says East Ridge spokesperson Erik Hopkins.

"Where do you go when the people who are supposed to protect you brutalize you?" Deana asks. "I don't know where to go from there."

Deana Sullivan's mother and father are now charged with disorderly conduct. Their case will be heard June 9th which is the same day as Sullivan's criminal charges.

The police department says if they are presented with evidence of possible wrongdoing by an officer, they will investigate.