HANCOCK COUNTY — The woman was trying to help the man, but she ended up being battered and strangled, officials said.
Charles Duane Sohn II, 33, Lafayette, has been charged with a Level 5 felony count of domestic battery; a Level 5 felony count of strangulation; a Level 6 felony count of intimidation; and a Class A misdemeanor count of invasion of privacy.
The most serious charges carry a sentence of up to six years in prison.
According to a probable cause affidavit, sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the 1000 block of South East Street, Greenfield, on July 29 on a report of a domestic disturbance.
A woman there told deputies her ex-boyfriend, who she was trying to help while he was going through withdrawal from heroin, demanded money from her and threatened to kill her if she didn’t comply, the affidavit said.
The victim told police she ordered the man to leave her house. When he did not and she tried to leave herself, the man grabbed her by her hair, pulled her back inside the house and threw her on the floor. The man then put his arm around the woman’s neck in a move similar to a headlock, the affidavit said.
The woman said the man had acted similarly several times before, but she had not reported it, the affidavit said. Investigators found a no-contact order had been issued in Madison County and that similar charges of battery and strangulation had been filed before against Sohn.
Sohn was arrested Wednesday, Sept. 16, on the new charges and had an initial appearance in Hancock County Circuit Court on Thursday, Sept. 17. Judge Scott Sirk set a $2,000 cash bound with a 15-day hold. Sohn is scheduled for a pretrial conference in late October.
Sohn was still listed as an inmate in the county jail as of the Daily Reporter’s deadline on Tuesday, Sept. 22.
