Chattanooga defense attorney arrested on domestic assault charge

photo Walter Edward "Rip" Biggs

A Chattanooga defense attorney with a criminal record was arrested Monday on a domestic assault charge.

Walter Edward "Rip" Biggs, 36, was picked up on a warrant before posting bail later that day around 5 p.m., records show.

According to a police report, Biggs pinned his girlfriend against a refrigerator door and threw her to the ground during an argument on Nov. 10. When an officer arrived, he found the woman with deep cuts on her left elbow and bruises forming on her face, the report says. Biggs, meanwhile, was gone.

The woman allegedly told police Biggs came home drunk and the couple got into an argument. When Biggs shut her arm and shoulder in the fridge, the woman hit back, the report says. Then she called police on his phone since Biggs had thrown and broken hers, she said in the report.

Reached Tuesday about the arrest, Biggs' office said he was unavailable for comment. His website shows he handles criminal matters such as driving under the influence, illegal drugs, burglary, domestic assault and homicide.

County records show Biggs, who was licensed in 2013, was arrested on an assault charge on Feb. 6, 2014, after he allegedly approached a group of lawyers and punched one of them in the face. He chased after the man, fled before police arrived, and later pleaded guilty to reduced charges of offensive touching, records show.

Later that year, when Biggs was pulled over for speeding on Signal Mountain on Nov. 7, the officer smelled alcohol on his breath, according to an arrest report. The city's municipal court convicted him of DUI first offense and made him complete 24 hours of community service and driving school in lieu of a prison sentence.

According to the docket, Biggs is scheduled to appear Dec. 3 before Judge David Bales at 8:30 a.m. in Hamilton County General Sessions Court.

Contact Zack Peterson at zpeterson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347. Follow @zackpeterson918.

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