Dwight Howard & Wife's Messy Marriage Seen on New Body Cam Footage

Dwight Howard and his wife Amber Howard’s messy home life is now on public display ... with new police body cam footage showing the two trading jabs during a tense encounter at their Georgia mansion.

The new footage -- obtained by TMZ -- was recorded March 6 and shows Amber waiting outside the front gate of the Howards' estate, complaining that Dwight locked her out after getting upset ... something she says he does frequently.

Amber tells officers it's actually the fourth time cops have been called to the house in the past year. BTW, this footage is connected to 911 call audio we obtained last week ... in which Amber told dispatch he kicked her out of their home.

Amber says CPS took Dwight's daughter -- from a previous relationship -- away from him the night before, adding Dwight was angry with her for not defending him during that situation. FWIW ... Dwight’s rep tells us CPS never took the child and didn’t even visit the home.

Dwight eventually appears with his son and two men Amber claims he met just days earlier on a "celebrity numbers" app ... saying he hired them on the spot to pressure-wash the property.

At one point, Dwight pulls an officer aside and lets his son explain what happened the night before ... with the son claiming he tried to avoid Amber because she was yelling at both him and Dwight.

The conversation then turns to what seems like a complicated situation involving Dwight's 15-year-old daughter ... with Dwight claiming the girl's mother and Amber have "teamed up" because they're upset about money and "want to destroy my kids and my reputation."

Dwight also tells the officer he is officially retiring from basketball -- something his son seems to be hearing for the first time -- and claims Amber has been trying to get under his skin ahead of a big ceremony. He says people have encouraged him to stay married ... but he claims Amber has recently gone "berserk."

Dwight then drops a bombshell ... telling officers one of his dogs died while under Amber's watch. While he makes clear he is not accusing her of killing the dog, he claims she was "negligent" because the dog got out of the gate.

Dwight tells officers ... "We are afraid. I'm afraid for my son. He does not feel safe around her. Something has to be done."