Columbia pastor arrested on suspicion of domestic assault

Boone County Sheriff’s Department arrested Lorenzo Lawson on Thursday shortly before 5:00 p.m. on suspicion of domestic assault.

His bond was $6,500 and he bonded out.

The arrest was stems from an assault on Halloween night in the 700 block of Demaret Drive. The Boone County Sheriff Department responded to Demaret around 10:30 p.m. to a woman who had blood on her lips and stated she was assaulted by Lorenzo Lawson outside of the home.

Lawson is a pastor and is a founding member of the Youth Empowerment Zone in Columbia. ABC 17 reached out to the organization, and received the statement below:

The allegations of assault levied against Lorenzo Lawson are very serious
in nature, and such, the Board of Youth Empowerment Zone is giving them all
due consideration in deciding a course of action until all material facts
come to light. The Board was and has been made aware of an extramarital
affair between Lorenzo and a former recipient of the services that the
Youth Empowerment Zone provides. We acknowledge such relationship is
inappropriate and unacceptable, and, as a group, are in the process of
applying strict disciplinary action. Pending investigation of the recent
charges, the Board of the Youth Empowerment Zone, has placed Lorenzo on
indefinite administrative leave. Furthermore, no concerns regarding
misappropriation or misuse of financial resources has been addressed with
the current Board by Mr. Prevo, or our independent accounting firm.
Finally, there have been no Board resignations besides that of Mr. Prevo.
We are going to take all necessary steps to discover the truth behind the
allegations of financial misgivings, and why Mr. Prevo did not seem fit to
be forthcoming with such information.

Sincerely,
The Board of Youth Empowerment Zone