Rensselaer Man Charged With Aggravated Battery After Violent Assault Caught On Camera
Rensselaer- A 36-year-old Rensselaer man, Colton Johnson, has been charged following a violent domestic assault that was reportedly captured on security footage and involved injuries described in court documents as causing permanent disfigurement.
The affidavit states that on the morning of November 4, 2025, officers went to a residence in the 500 block of East Walnut Street in Rensselaer to speak with a woman regarding Johnson’s earlier arrest on a warrant. During the visit, officers observed visible bruising and asked how she had been injured. She eventually stated that Johnson had beaten her and that she was afraid he would kill her.
The woman told investigators the most recent assault occurred on Sunday night, November 2, 2025, when Johnson punched and kicked her multiple times in the living room of their home during an argument. She said the beating was so severe that one of her children intervened by stepping between them and hitting Johnson to make him stop, and that she believed she would have been killed had her child not done so.
Court documents describe that two young children were in the room during the assault. The woman showed investigators bruising on her upper chest, left arm, a cut inside her upper lip, and front teeth that had been pushed back — injuries preventing her from eating solid food.
According to the affidavit, security video from November 2, 2025, shows Johnson punching and kicking her repeatedly as the children screamed. The footage depicts Johnson pulling her by the hair, throwing her across the room, pinning her to the ground, and striking her several times in the face while one child tried to stop the attack by slapping at him. The assault only ended when one of the children sat on the victim’s lap, prompting Johnson to walk away.
The affidavit also references a previous incident on September 30, 2025, in which the woman stated Johnson had punched her and knocked out two teeth, leaving her unable to chew food on one side of her mouth.
In addition, prosecutors have filed a Notice of Intent to Seek an Enhanced Penalty against Johnson, citing a prior domestic battery conviction entered on August 27, 2024, in Jasper Circuit Court under case number 37C01-2401-F5-000054. That conviction elevates two of the current domestic battery counts to Level 5 felonies.
Charges filed November 5, 2025:
• Aggravated Battery — Level 3 Felony (2 counts)
• Domestic Battery — Prior Conviction for Battery or Strangulation — Level 5 Felony (2 counts)
• Domestic Battery Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury — Level 5 Felony (2 counts)
• Domestic Battery Committed in the Presence of a Child Under 16 — Level 6 Felony
