Philly cop arrested in domestic assault

A Philadelphia police officer was arrested on Thanksgiving and has been suspended with intent to dismiss after he allegedly beat his girlfriend at her Bensalem home last week.

Joseph Sees, 48, a 17-year veteran, was charged with simple assault and harassment for the incident that happened at 10:30 p.m. last Wednesday on Newgate Court near High Road, police said. His girlfriend suffered a bloody, possibly broken nose and multiple scratches, police said. Neighbors who heard the sounds of a violent assault alerted police.

The girlfriend told responding officers that she and Sees had spent the night out drinking and the fight erupted "because she was upset that he was driving drunk" and that Sees "began to drive out of control and aggressively, to the point that it was scaring her," according to a probable cause affidavit. The woman's complaints about Sees' driving "appeared to set Sees off," the woman told responding officers. After they returned to her apartment, Sees allegedly followed her inside, yelling, and "that's when all hell broke loose," she told officers. He allegedly left after the assault, and police arrested him the next morning.

Philadelphia police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey suspended Sees for 30 days with the intent to dismiss.