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COURTLAND

Michael Greenwell Jr., a Franklin police officer accused of strangulation and sexual battery on June 12, was granted a $10,000 bond on his own recognizance at the hearing in Southampton General District Court on Friday morning. The bond was granted by Judge James J. O’Connell III from Chesterfield.

According to the order, Greenwell — who was put on administrative leave without pay earlier this week — is required to wear a GPS tracking device; he may not possess any firearms; and cannot have any contact whatsoever with the victim of the alleged crimes.

Southampton County Commonwealth Attorney Eric Cooke has recused his office from the prosecution of this case and will have Chesapeake’s Commonwealth Attorney Nancy Parr appointed in his place as a special prosecutor. The FPD has started its own internal investigation.

Greenwell’s attorney, Jack Randall, told The Tidewater News after the bond was granted, “My client vehemently denies any wrongdoing, and that all allegations are complete fiction and do not make sense. Anyone who reads the criminal complaint will come to the same objective conclusion.”

In that complaint obtained by the paper, a woman accused Greenwell of having thrown her and a female friend into a swimming pool while the three were at a house in Ivor. The victim further alleges that Greenwell held her in a chokehold while pouring alcohol down her throat.

“Mike came over to me pushing me against the pool and put his hand around my throat shoving his tongue in my mouth,” the woman told Southampton County Sheriff’s Office investigators, further alleging that at the same time Greenwell had been touching her intimately, and had wanted to speak privately with her about having sexual intercourse with him upstairs. When the victim left, Greenwell allegedly called her and used the social media app Snapchat to attempt to get her to return.

“He had me in a chokehold while pouring alcohol down my throat,” the woman concluded in her statement. “Both times that he forced himself on me it was unwanted and I couldn’t get away.”

The victim contacted the Southampton County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday, and an investigation immediately got started. Greenwell was arrested on the charges and taken into custody at a location outside of Franklin and Southampton County.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 1.