Crime & Safety
PD: Man Strangled Girlfriend With Metal Bat After Violent Tirade
Middletown Police say a 32-year-old was angry the mother of his three children asked him to leave the home after showing up intoxicated.
The following police reports come from the Middletown Police public information officer. Individuals named here reflect charges filed, never a conviction.
A 32-year-old man strangled the mother of his three children with a metal baseball bat after they argued over him arriving home intoxicated, according to Middletown Police.
He was arraigned on Nov. 20 and released on a promise to appear on Dec. 4 at 10 a.m. in Middletown Superior Court for four felony charges and a misdemeanor.
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On Nov. 20 at 1:47 a.m., the girlfriend of Joshua B. Gonthier, 32, of Spencer Drive call police to say the two had fought over him arriving home late at home drunk.
The victim, who has three children with Gonthier, according to the report, asked him to leave the room and he became violent, punching doors, banged his head against the door and knocked a glass picture frame off the wall.
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The report says the victim tried to lock her bedroom door and put a dresser behind it but Gonthier forced the door open and she grabbed an aluminum baseball bat and swung it in his direction, hitting his arm, but he grabbed it from her.
Police say while she was on the ground in a fetal position Gonthier laid on top of her and pressed the bat against her neck, causing her to possibly black out. The report says the couple's 8-year-old son walked in and he released her, saying, "see what you made me do, now he's going to call police."
He was charged with three counts risk of injury to a child, disorderly conduct and first-degree strangulation.
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