Former Mobile cop accused of choking woman as she held child was ‘outstanding officer of the month’

Jacob Matthews was named the Mobile Police Department’s Outstanding Officer of the Month for March 2021 by the Southwest Mobile Chamber of Commerce.

Two years later, Matthews, 33, has resigned and is charged with felony domestic violence after a woman accused him of choking her.

The MPD announced the resignation Wednesday, the same day Matthews resigned and was taken into custody.

Under Alabama law, domestic violence strangulation/suffocation is a Class B felony, punishable by a prison sentence of 2-20 years and a fine of up to $30,000.

The woman making the allegations filed a petition last month for a protective order in Mobile County Circuit Court.

In her petition, the victim wrote that she and Matthews had been in a relationship.

In June and again in November of 2022, Matthews “held me down and choked me,” the woman wrote. She also accused Matthews of choking her while she was holding her 5-year-old child and injuring the child when Matthews slammed a door on him.

“I fear for my children and my life,” the woman wrote.

Both the woman and her 5-year-old child are listed as plaintiffs on the petition. The woman had also sought a protective order in 2017, but she ultimately withdrew that petition.

Circuit Court Judge Walter Honeycutt had been scheduled to hear the petition on March 8, but the hearing was continued until June 13, citing a “criminal matter pending,” presumably the criminal charges against Matthews.

Matthews joined the Mobile Police Department in September 2018 and graduated from the Mobile Police Academy in July 2019.