Man accused of assaulting dad, brother at West Ashley home

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – A Charleston man is facing assault and battery charges after police said he assaulted his father and brother during an altercation early Tuesday morning.

Officers with the Charleston Police Department responded to a Church Creek Drive home shortly before 2:30 a.m. for an assault that was in progress. But when they arrived, the suspect, Joseph Lee Campbell, 31, had already left the scene.

The man’s father told officers that Campbell was out at a bar having drinks a few hours earlier before calling to be picked up around 1:00 a.m.

An incident report stated that Campbell was being belligerent and verbally aggressive toward his father; he explained that at one point, Campbell received a phone call from someone who sells him drugs, and asked the man to step outside to retrieve the narcotics.

Campbell came back inside but his father told the man he was not allowed to do drugs in the house and that he needed to leave and get a hotel room.

An argument between the two escalated into a physical scuffle with both men wrestling on the floor and Campbell punching his father with a closed fist.

Campbell’s brother said he heard the altercation and tried to separate the two, but Campbell grabbed his brother’s arm and almost pulled it out of the socket, according to the report. In an act of self-defense, the brother said he grabbed a nearby box fan and smashed Campbell in the face, causing him to bleed from the forehead.

At the scene, officers had set up a perimeter to search for Campbell after he fled before they arrived. He was found nearby and detained.

Campbell was taken to a local hospital to be treated before being taken to the Al Cannon Detention Center where he is charged with third-degree assault and battery.