Special operations commander charged for choking family members

Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Brent Byng, 44, charged with two counts of domestic battery. (Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office)

Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Brent Byng, 44, was in command of the 19th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field in Florida. Not long after taking command, Byng was charged for committing violence against a couple of his family members. One charge involved Byng’s choking his wife until she could not draw breath. Another charge involved picking up one of his children by the neck. Byng stopped his actions when a friend drove onto the driveway.

From Stars and Stripes:

Byng is charged with choking his wife the evening of June 23 “until she could not draw breath” after accusing her of cheating and demanding she give him her phone, according to the arrest report.

His wife gave her phone to one of their two children in the house and told them to run away from Byng, according to the report. Police said Byng then took out a small pocketknife and demanded the phone, following the children with the knife as they attempted to escape.

Byng grabbed the neck of one of the children and picked up the child before halting as a friend pulled into the driveway in a vehicle, according to the arrest report.

Byng’s wife told police that she had her children hide inside the house and scaled a fence in the backyard to go to a neighbor’s home to call the police.

She said Byng was trying to take her phone to “prevent them from calling law enforcement or for help.”

Additional Reading:

Dickstein, C. (2024, June 28). Air Force special ops commander fired after charges he choked wife and child. Stars and Stripes. Link.

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