New Kensington landlord accused of choking tenant who said she was buying a home
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Editor’s note: The Westmoreland County District Attorney’s office decided not to proceed with the case, according to court documents.
A New Kensington property owner is accused of choking and hitting a tenant after the woman told him she was buying a house and moving out.
New Kensington police charged Terrance Joel Martin Jr., 57, of Mercer on Thursday with a felony count of strangulation and a misdemeanor count of simple assault.
Police said the incident happened Wednesday in the 800 block of Anderson Street. The property’s owner is listed as TJM Properties in Westmoreland County’s real estate records.
According to a criminal complaint against Martin, the woman told Martin she was closing on a house Sept. 12 and moving out.
She said Martin later came onto the back porch and told her she needed to get out immediately and that he was giving her a notice of eviction the next day.
The woman said Martin got in her face and was yelling at her. She said she told Martin to back up and lightly pushed him back, the complaint states.
According to the complaint, it was then that Martin grabbed the woman by the throat with his right hand, threw her into a lounge chair and began choking her. The woman said she couldn’t breathe and was trying to kick Martin off of her.
The woman said that when Martin finally let go and she got up, he backhanded her in the mouth.
The officer wrote that he saw redness, swelling and bruising around the woman’s neck.
Martin did not have an attorney listed in online court records.
He was arraigned Thursday before New Kensington District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr., who released him on an unsecured $10,000 bond.
Martin’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 7.