Georgia Man Arrested Over Grilled Cheese Sandwich Argument

ATHENS, GA — An Athens man has been arrested after shouting at his wife for cooking a grilled cheese sandwich wrong.

Police say James DePaola, 55, was arrested last Wednesday after "shouting and cursing" at his wife because she used three slices of cheese to make the sandwich instead of two.

"He came into the kitchen and got in her face, shouting in such an animated and close up fashion that spit was hitting (the wife's) face," an Athens-Clarke County Police report reads.

The wife told police that DePaola, who lives on Candy Circle in Athens, has a history of domestic violence that has led to him being arrested and having a restraining order taken out against him in New Jersey.

The couple and their two children have lived in Athens for about a year, she said.

Police received the initial 911 call from the couple's 12-year-old daughter, who told them that her father had hit her mother.

DePaola's wife told officers he never hit her, because "she believed he was too afraid of going back to jail to get physically violent."

She did injure a toe in the scuffle, police said, although she declined medical treatment.

When the mother first told her daughters to call 911, DePaola grabbed the family's home phone, ripped out the phone cord and hid it. He also threw the phone to the ground, breaking it, police said. The daughter who eventually called 911 did so on her mother's cellphone.

According to the police report, DePaola knew he was interrupting a 911 call, but grabbed the phone because "he was mad and thought (the wife's) reason for calling 911 was stupid."

DePaola was arrested and charged with criminal trespass-damaged property and obstructing a 911 call.

Photo via Athens-Clarke County Police