HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — A Myrtle Beach traffic court judge claimed she was threatened and attacked after her house was broken into last month, according to an Horry County police report obtained by News13.

The aggravated assault was filed by Brana Williams against her soon to be ex-husband. Her ex-husband, James B. Arnold, is also the retired Isle of Palms police chief. Arnold has since taken his life.

The house on Chapel Ridge Circle, near Saint James High School, is just one of the properties Arnold and Williams lived at before Williams served him with divorce papers and moved out. However, it is the house Arnold took his life at.

Williams and her boyfriend, Brian Shives, reflected on the attack.

“I fell asleep, and thank God I did, because he was, I mean, of what happened,” Shives said. “He didn’t know I was in the house. He came in to kill her and everyone in the house. He told some people this thing, this stuff.”

Arnold broke into Williams’ house at about 2 a.m. on May 28, according to the report. Williams said her and Arnold were married for 23 years before filing for divorce just months ago.

Together they adopted six kids, who are all under the age of 20.

Shives says they met when Williams took one of her daughters to the tattoo place he worked at. He claims at the time, Williams had already moved out of her house with Arnold.

Shives described how he confronted Arnold the night he broke into her house.

“I saw, she had two younger sons that had a hold of his arms, and I see the gun so, I jumped over . . . jumped up and stuck my finger behind the trigger,” he said.

According to the report, Arnold tried to enter Williams’ bedroom when a fight broke out. Shives said Arnold had a gun in his hand that he was trying to get ahold of.

“He punched me about six or seven times trying to get me off,” Shives said. “So, I got the magazine of it, and when he saw that, he was trying to hit me in the chest, to make the gun go off. He cut my chest up pretty good.”

Shives said he has a couple cuts on his chest from the gun, and Williams was punched once when trying to get away from Arnold, but the kids are OK.

Shives said he had to bite Arnold’s finger for him to let go and leave the house.

“On the way out I told him, ‘listen, you know you’re going to prison and you’re a cop,’” Shives said. “I said ‘what’s going to happen to you?’ It’s like realization came across his face and he ran out the door.”

Shives said when Arnold left Williams’ house, he was being chased by police officers. He said Arnold pulled into the driveway of his house on Chapel Ridge Circle and shot himself.

Williams posted about a service for Arnold on Facebook, which happened four days after his death.

📲 Download the News13 app to stay updated on the go
📧 Sign up for WBTW email alerts to have breaking news sent to your inbox.
💻 Find today’s top stories on WBTW.com for the Grand Strand and Pee Dee.

This is still a developing story. Count on News13 for updates.

Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is struggling with a mental health crisis and thinking about suicide, the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week by dialing 9-8-8. The hotline gives individuals in crisis or for those looking to help someone else the ability to talk to a trained listener. Help is also available by going to the website 988lifeline.org.

* * *

Jackie LiBrizzi is a multimedia journalist at News13. Jackie is originally from Hamilton, New Jersey, and was raised in Piedmont, South Carolina. Jackie joined the News13 team in June 2023 after she graduated as a student-athlete from the University of South Carolina in May 2023. Follow Jackie on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, and read more of her work here.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW.