Former state Rep. John Atkins turned himself in to state troopers Friday after he and an ex-girlfriend were involved in a domestic dispute.
The 38-year-old woman had allowed Atkins to remove property from her Lewes home. But she says he took some things that weren't his, which sparked an argument.
State troopers say the woman jumped into Atkins’s truck to try and damage some of the items.
That’s when Atkins pushed her against her vehicle, kicking and damaging it as he left, according to the police report.
The former multi-term legislator later turned himself in on offensive touching and criminal mischief charges. He was released on a $1,000 bond.
It’s not the first run-in with law enforcement for Atkins. His former wife, Heather, filed a protection order against him in 2014.
She said he had continually harassed her, with his behavior becoming “erratic”. Atkins later filed his own protective order against her, saying she physically abused him.
Atkins first won his Millsboro representative seat in 2002 as a Republican.
He was elected as a Democrat in 2008, helping to flip the majority in the state house. That was after he resigned a few months prior over accusations he used his status as a legislator to get out of a suspected drunk driving traffic stop in Ocean City, Maryland, according to media accounts at the time.
Rep. Rich Collins (R-Millsboro) eventually ousted Atkins in 2014.
