A North Charleston man was arrested early Thursday after police responded to a reported domestic disturbance involving a knife.

According to the North Charleston Police Department, officers were dispatched around 2:30 a.m. to the 4800 block of Courtyard Square after receiving a report of a domestic disturbance.

When officers arrived, the victim told them the suspect was inside her apartment. Officers observed damage inside the residence, including a broken shelf, and saw the suspect re-enter the apartment. Police ordered him to come outside. The suspect, identified as 39-year-old Rodney Bernard Leachman Jr., exited the apartment but allegedly failed to comply with officers' commands to keep his hands raised. Officers took him into custody and placed him in a patrol vehicle.

The victim told officers the knife involved in the incident had been taken to a neighbor's apartment, where officers recovered it.

According to the police report, the victim said she and Leachman had been arguing throughout the day and had arranged for a relative to pick up her minor child before the situation escalated. She alleged that after the child left, Leachman became physically violent, choking her with his hands.

The victim told officers she repeatedly asked Leachman to leave the apartment. She alleged he then removed a knife from a kitchen drawer, and the confrontation continued into the living room, where she said Leachman held the knife while straddling her on a couch. She told police she grabbed the knife and pleaded with him to leave before eventually breaking free and running to a neighbor's home, where she remained until officers arrived.

Police also reported that Leachman damaged a bookshelf, an antique table, a door, and a wall during the incident.

Leachman was charged with first-degree domestic violence and malicious injury to property (damage to property). He was transported to the Al Cannon Detention Center.