Creflo Dollar Daughter's 911 Call Released: Not the First Time It's Happened
An audio tape of the 911 call made by megachurch pastor Creflo Dollar's 15-year-old daughter has been released by the Fayette County Police Department. During the call made early Friday, the girl told the 911 operator that she was allegedly punched and choked by her father, adding that this was not the first time such an incident has happened.
"I just got an altercation with my father. He punched me and ...(inaudible) choked me. It's not the first time it's happened. I feel threatened by being in this house," the 15-year-old girl is heard telling the 911 operator.
"I don't know what can be done but I'm scared. I'm shaking. I don't...I don't know what to do."
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Creflo Dollar, who was arrested Friday then released on $5,000 bail, has admitted to "spanking" his daughter, according to a police report by the Fayette County Sheriff's Office. He told a deputy that after she became disrespectful, he tried to restrain her. When she began to hit him, that's when he reportedly wrestled her to the floor and spanked her bottom and back of her legs.
On Sunday, the prominent black preacher appeared before his World Changers Church International congregation in Atlanta and emphatically denied punching or choking his youngest daughter.
"The truth is that a conversation with our daughter got emotional and things escalated from there," Dollar, a father of five, told the 30,000-member congregation.
"The truth was that she was not choked, she was not punched," he stated. "There were not any scratches on her neck but the only thing on her neck was a prior skin abrasion from eczema."
Dollar received a standing ovation throughout his entire statement before the church. The statement was made prior to his Sunday sermon.
"I should have never been arrested. Never!" he said. "And when the facts of this come out, you will be appalled."
The 911 call lasted about 5 minutes. During the call, the 911 operator asked if there were any weapons, drugs or alcohol involved; the girl answered, "No, ma'am."
The 911 operator also asked if she had any "injuries," "visible injuries," to which the girl also answered, "No, ma'am."
The operator then proceeded to ask what the argument between the girl and her father was about.
Dollar's daughter told the 911 operator that they were arguing about her going to a party on Saturday. She said after her father brought up her grades, she started crying and then walked out of the room to the kitchen. The girl said her father followed behind her and asked why she was crying. When she told Dollar, "I do not want to talk to you," he allegedly started to get physical.
"And he went off. He came, put his arm around my neck, choked me, and bent me over the table," said the teenager in the audio recording of the 911 call.
"I threw him off of me. He threw me on the ground and punched me in my face. And this is going on for a good two, three minutes. And my mom came in the room and he stopped. And then my mom asked him what happened and he said that I hit him first, which is a lie."
The dispatcher then asked for the girl's age, her father's name and birth date, and whether her parents were aware of the 911 call. The girl said her parents did not know she was calling 911, only her sister did.
Dollar's 19-year-old daughter, who witnessed the altercation, corroborated her sister's story to the police. At first, she gave a different account "due to her parents being outside with her while she was writing it," according to the deputy's report. In her second statement, made after being separated from her parents, the 19-year-old daughter said her father slapped and choked her younger sister.
Pastor Creflo Dollar said the incident was part of the devil's plan to "discredit" him and his ministry.
"The devil knows in order to discredit the message, you have to first of all discredit the messenger," he said Sunday.
Reading from Psalm 35, Dollar said, "Malicious witnesses testify against me. They accuse me of crimes I know nothing about."
"Wake up! Rise to my defense! Take up my case, my God and my Lord. Declare me not guilty, O Lord my God, for you give justice," he continued. "May those who rejoice at my troubles be humiliated and disgraced."
On Facebook, hundreds have come to Dollar's defense, including parents who empathize with having a teenage daughter. Many have also poured out prayers for the Dollar family, calling on others to withhold judgment before all the facts emerge in the case.
