A 54-year-old West Newton man is charged with terroristic threats, robbery and simple assault after police say he attacked a woman at his residence.

Eric J. Ross is accused of dragging the woman by her hair down two flights of stairs during an argument at his apartment in the 100 block of South Third Street about 3:30 a.m. Saturday, according to a criminal complaint.

The woman told police she was asleep in a third-floor bedroom when she was awakened by Ross, who was intoxicated. He pulled her out of bed, dragged her down the stairs and threatened her with a large black kitchen knife, “holding it in front of her face, saying that if police came, he was going to stab her to death and get himself killed by police,” Trooper Andrew Prizzi wrote in court documents.

The woman, who contacted police at 6:30 a.m., said Ross also forcibly took her cellphone and “smashed the screen.”

Prizzi reported that he noticed bruising on the woman’s left arm and a cut on her forearm. He also said she complained of back pain.

Ross told police at the scene that he had only “verbally assaulted” the woman and “had not touched her,” Prizzi wrote in court documents.

Troopers recovered an 8-inch kitchen knife from the living room and a broken cellphone.

Ross was taken into custody and charged with criminal mischief, harassment, terroristic threats, robbery, simple assault and theft.

According to online court dockets, Ross in 2017 pleaded guilty to his third driving under the influence arrest and was sentenced to serve two years on home electronic monitoring. His license was suspended for a year.

After his arrest Saturday, Ross was ordered held in the county jail on $10,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled Dec. 13.

He did not have an attorney listed in court documents.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)