Cody Snider

A car southbound on Interstate 65 in Simpson County nearly collided with several vehicles Tuesday afternoon, and police said it was because the driver was being assaulted by her passenger.

According to the Simpson County Sheriff’s Office, a caller reported around 5:48 p.m. that they witnessed a male passenger in a silver Toyota Camry beating a woman driving the car, causing the vehicle to swerve in and out of lanes.

After deputies were dispatched, the caller reported witnessing the man, later identified as Cody Snider, 26, address unknown, choking and punching the driver.

A deputy who saw the Camry get off I-65 at Exit 6 witnessed Snider raising his right fist to strike the woman, and the car was stopped by police under the Scottsville Road underpass in Simpson County, an arrest citation said.

Deputies detained Snider and safely got the woman into the back of a patrol car, where she was seen to have red marks on the right side of her face and around her throat as well as dried blood around her nose and right eye, according to the sheriff’s office.

The woman reported that Snider had been abusive all day and that the violence against her started after she missed an exit on I-65, an arrest citation said.

Deputies also learned that the woman had bite marks on her right arm and that Snider was alleged to have burned her leg with a cigarette lighter and shoved a lit cigarette into her right ear, and she was brought to The Medical Center in Franklin for treatment, the sheriff’s office said.

Snider was arrested on charges of first-degree assault, first-degree wanton endangerment, first-degree possession of a controlled substance, first-degree strangulation, tampering with physical evidence, menacing, possession of drug paraphernalia and failure to wear a seatbelt.

He remains in Simpson County Detention Center under a $50,000 cash bond.