By Mack Callahan
Asking for a Friend
Some days, Shawnee County chooses chaos quietly. Yesterday was not one of those days.
If you skimmed the daily booking report and thought, “Wow, a lot of people woke up angry,” you’re not wrong. If you thought, “Why does this feel like a group project where everyone decided violence was the only acceptable contribution?” — you’re also not wrong.
Let’s start with the theme of the day: domestic violence.
By the count, at least four separate domestic battery cases hit the booking sheet in a single 24-hour period. Choking. Bodily harm. “Rude physical contact” — which is a phrase that continues to undersell what it actually means in real life. Family members. Dating relationships. The same story, different names, different timestamps.
That’s not an anomaly. That’s a pattern.
And it didn’t stop behind closed doors.
Because while several people allegedly chose violence at home, others decided to take that energy on the road and aim it directly at law enforcement.
Yesterday’s report includes multiple arrests for battery on a law enforcement officer, interference with police, and refusal to follow lawful orders — sometimes stacked together like a sampler platter of bad decisions. Physical contact with officers. Obstruction. Resistance. Bench warrants sprinkled in for flavor.
It’s worth pausing here to note: these aren’t protest arrests. These aren’t civil disobedience cases. These are people who allegedly escalated encounters until hands were laid where hands absolutely should not be.
To recap yesterday’s highlights:
- Multiple domestic battery arrests
- At least two separate cases involving battery on law enforcement officers
- Several interference and obstruction charges
- Zero evidence that anyone paused and asked, “Is today the day I ruin my own life?”
The booking report reads less like a legal document and more like a checklist of what not to do when emotions spike.
And here’s the uncomfortable truth beneath the sarcasm: none of this is funny for the people on the receiving end of that violence. Partners. Families. Officers. Kids who wake up the next morning in houses that suddenly feel very different.
The jail doesn’t fill itself. These outcomes aren’t random. They are choices — bad ones, repeated often enough that they blur into routine.
Yesterday, Shawnee County didn’t just have a rough day.
They chose violence.
And today, everyone else gets to live with the paperwork. DailyBookingReport 12_16_2025 6…
Let’s begin where too much violence begins — at home.
Alden Ray Stein, 43
Booked: December 15, 2:45 p.m.
Stein faces a stack of serious charges, including:
- Aggravated domestic battery (choking a family member or dating partner)
- Domestic battery
- Criminal restraint
- Criminal deprivation of property
- Possession of a narcotic or stimulant
Bond: No bond
This wasn’t a single allegation. It was a cascade — violence, restraint, and control all bundled together, serious enough that the court declined to offer release.
Delma Eugene King, 67
Booked: December 15, 7:40 a.m.
Charge:
- Domestic battery (knowing or reckless bodily harm to a family member or dating partner)
Bond: No bond
Short charge list. Long implications.
Shawn Ryan Swanson, 34
Booked: December 15, 1:55 a.m.
Charge:
- Domestic battery (knowing or reckless bodily harm)
Bond: $1,000 cash
Court date set for January.
Danielle Nicole Davidson, 40
Booked: December 15, 12:15 a.m.
Charge:
- Domestic battery (knowing rude physical contact with a family member or dating partner)
Bond: $5,000 professional surety
Released later that morning.
Four individuals. Four separate incidents. Same underlying reality: violence inside relationships serious enough to land on the jail roster in a single day.
When Anger Goes Public: Battery on Law Enforcement
For others, yesterday’s violence didn’t stay inside.
Dustin Wayne Thigpen, 31
Booked: December 15, 11:30 p.m.
Charges include:
- Battery on a law enforcement officer (physical contact)
- Interference with law enforcement
- Criminal damage to property
- Outstanding Topeka bench warrants
Bond: Multiple bonds totaling thousands
This wasn’t a misunderstanding. It was contact. It was obstruction. It was escalation.
Anastasia Elizabeth Grant, 35
Booked: December 15, 11:05 p.m.
Charges:
- Battery on a law enforcement officer
- Interference with law enforcement
- Disobeying a lawful police order
Bond: $1,000 professional surety per charge
Three separate decisions, each one making the situation worse.
Trevante Wayne Smith, 32
Booked: December 15, 10:10 a.m.
Charge:
- Interference with law enforcement during felony warrant service
Bond: No bond
When a warrant is already in play, resistance is rarely the winning move.
