Man accused of assault headed for trial

A 32-year-old man accused of chasing after his girlfriend with a hammer and assaulting her earlier this month, according to police, is headed for trial on numerous criminal charges — including felony counts of aggravated assault and strangulation — after waiving his preliminary hearing in district court.

Germaine Marsailus Kimber — who has no fixed address, according to court documents — appeared with his public defender before Lansdale District Judge Edward Levine and waived one count each of first-degree felony aggravated assault and second-degree felony strangulation, misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats, simple assault, reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct and possession of an instrument of crime with intent, and several related summary offenses in connection with the alleged events of overnight April 2.

It was just after midnight that day when police were told that Kimber, who was allegedly intoxicated, had smashed the window of a vehicle and was chasing his girlfriend down an alley near the 600 block of West Main Street, according to an affidavit of probable cause. Officers had been summoned to the residence about 15 minutes earlier for a reported domestic disturbance but had just cleared that call and left when the report of Kimber running after his girlfriend came in, according to court documents.

Cops from the Lansdale, Towamencin, and Upper Gwynedd police departments responded to the scene and found Kimber’s girlfriend sitting on the front step of her residence crying, the affidavit says.

The woman said that Kimber had hit her several times in the face and repeatedly choked her, but she was “only able to get some breath because she trained herself from previous instances,” according to the affidavit.

She told officers that Kimber had grabbed a hammer and said “I got something for you,” so she fled the house with Kimber following close behind and threatening “to kill her and ruin her life,” according to court documents. The woman confirmed that a rear window of her vehicle had been smashed.

Police observed swelling and bruising on the woman’s face, as well as red marks on her throat, neck and chest, and she said she had a bruised hand from trying to defend herself during Kimber’s assault, the affidavit indicates.

The woman declined offers of medical treatment, documents show.

Kimber surrendered to police without incident about two hours later, police said.

Per an agreement reached between Montgomery County prosecutors and Kimber’s public defender, bail in the case was lowered from $25,000 to $5,000 cash. Records indicated Monday that Kimber is still behind bars at county jail while awaiting his June 7 formal arraignment in Montgomery County court.