Domestic Violence Incident at Greenwood Hotel Leads to Man’s Arrest

GREENWOOD, Ind.–An Indianapolis man is accused of tracking down his family at a Greenwood hotel, forcing them into his truck, and striking one of them.

Police say the incident happened Saturday night in Greenwood at a hotel and it led to the arrest of 28-year-old Robert Vanatta. Officers believe Vanatta’s family members had fled to the hotel to get away from Vanatta’s abusive behavior only to have him hit the family’s vehicle and run it off the road.

Later Vanatta is accused of putting one of the children in a chokehold and threatening to kill that child if the family members didn’t get into his truck. The family members got into his struck and hit a woman on the side of her face with a closed fist. One of the children stabbed Vanatta with a box cutter in an attempt to get him away from the woman and to “save his family.”

Police say the next thing Vanatta claims he knew was that he was in the hospital with several stab wounds.

Vanatta is charged with the following:

-Four counts of criminal confinement while armed with a deadly weapon, each a Level 3 felony
-Four counts of intimidation where the defendant draws or uses a deadly weapon, each a level 5 felony
-One count of strangulation, a Level 6 felony
-Three counts of criminal recklessness committed with a deadly weapon, each a Level 6 felony
-One count of neglect of a dependent, a Level 6 felony