Pottstown man faces prison for domestic violence

A Pottstown man is on his way to state prison for choking a woman during an incident of domestic violence at a borough motel.

Demetrius Charles Anderson, 26, of the first block of North Adams Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 1½-to-3years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of strangulation in connection with a July 2018 incident at the Motel 6 on Robinson Street. The sentence was imposed by Judge Wendy G. Rothstein as part of a plea agreement.

Rothstein also ordered Anderson to have no contact with the woman he assaulted and to complete a domestic violence counseling program.

Other charges of disorderly conduct, harassment and resisting arrest were dismissed against Anderson as part of the plea agreement.

An investigation began about 1:23 p.m. July 2 when Pottstown police received information from the victim’s relatives that she was at the motel with her boyfriend, Anderson, who allegedly was assaulting the woman. When police made contact with Anderson he claimed he didn’t know the whereabouts of the woman, according to the criminal complaint filed by Pottstown Police Officer Christopher Zahorchak.

A member of the motel’s cleaning staff subsequently told police that she helped the victim hide in another room at the motel, according to the criminal complaint. When police entered the room they noticed the victim “was holding her stomach and had injuries to her face.”

“I noticed that her left eye was swollen and bruised. I also noticed a cut under the left side of her nose and bruising on her arms and shoulders. The victim also had a soft cast on her left foot for a broken toe and foot,” Zahorchak alleged. “The victim stated that she has been in an abusive relationship with the defendant for some time.”

The victim told police Anderson caused the bruising on her body during the last several weeks and had kicked her on the left foot causing the broken bones, according to the arrest affidavit.

The victim added that on the morning of July 2 “the defendant strangled her twice, one being more severe than the other,” Zahorchak alleged.

“She stated that the defendant straddled her while she was lying under the covers of her hotel bed and placed both of his hands around her neck. She stated that she could not breathe during this time and it caused her pain,” Zahorchak alleged in the arrest affidavit.

The woman told police she felt “straight fear” during the assault but managed to push Anderson off of her and she fled to a bathroom.

When police returned to the room in which Anderson was staying and attempted to take him into custody he allegedly resisted and officers had to take him to the ground in order to get him to comply with police orders, according to the arrest affidavit.