Cops: Man punched relatives, family dog
Mark DeGraffenreidt faces half-dozen criminal counts after domestic incident
A 52-year-old man is facing charges after allegedly punching several family members and the family dog.
A 52-year-old Lansdale man is facing a half-dozen criminal counts for allegedly punching several family members and the family dog during a domestic incident, according to police.
Mark DeGraffenreidt, of the 700 block of East Main Street, is behind bars at Montgomery County jail in lieu of $5,000 cash bail and charged with two counts each of misdemeanor simple assault, summary harassment and summary disorderly conduct.
Lansdale cops responded to DeGraffenreidt’s apartment on the night of Feb. 28 and spoke to his 16-yearold daughter, who said that DeGraffenreidt punched her, her 15-year-old sister, and her mother before leaving the apartment, according to a police criminal complaint.
The girl said that the incident began when DeGraffenreidt was trying to sleep on the couch and her dog touched him, according to police. DeGraffenreidt yelled at the dog, then the girl yelled back at her father and took the dog into a bedroom, but DeGraffenreidt followed and allegedly punched the dog and grabbed his daughter by the shirt, the complaint indicates. The girl’s sister and mother heard the commotion and went to investigate and they all began to tussle, with DeGraffenreidt “swinging at everyone,” the complaint states.
The girl said she was hit in the shoulder and face and suffered scratches to her arm and leg, according to police.
The girl’s mother told police she sustained a laceration to her finger and had pain in her lower lip as a result of being hit in the mouth during the altercation, according to the complaint.
DeGraffenreidt was found in the laundry room of his apartment building a short time later and taken into custody.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 14.
In 2016, DeGraffenreidt was arrested after he allegedly threatened family members over a suit he purportedly wanted his girlfriend to purchase for him, according to police.
The woman said she wouldn’t buy the suit for DeGraffenreidt, and when he told his daughter about it, his daughter told him to go buy the suit himself, which made him feel “disrespected,” according to court documents.
The argument escalated to the point where the allegedly intoxicated DeGraffenreidt threw a television on the floor, physically threatened his girlfriend and daughters, and said he was going to go to Philadelphia to get a gun, according to court documents.
The case was later dismissed.