A local man is in custody for allegedly hitting his girlfriend just feet from the Jacksonville Police Department and Morgan County Sheriff’s Department.

Thirty-eight year old Robert Austin of the 300 block of West College was arrested at 3:30 yesterday on charges of domestic battery, aggravated assault and resisting police after the alleged incident in the alley east of the Salvation Army, off the 300 block of West Douglas.

Jacksonville Police Lieutenant Joe Tapscott says police arrived as Austin was beating the unnamed 41-year-old female victim, who is believed to be his girlfriend. He says Austin fled north on foot and was tracked down in the 100 block of Lafayette, but not before Austin threatened to hit ESDA Coordinator Bob Fitzsimmons with an ax handle. Tapscott says Fitzsimmons was attempting to help subdue Austin at the time of the alleged threat. Austin was eventually restrained by officers and taken into custody. He’s held at the Morgan County Jail.

Paramedics were dispatched to the scene, but Passavant Area Hospital has no record of the unidentified 41-year-old female ever being admitted.

Police are not releasing the woman’s name.