Monongahela man charged following alleged choking incident
Charges have been filed against a Monongahela man who allegedly choked his wife as she held their infant daughter.
Thomas Sterling Elder III, 34, was charged with aggravated assault and strangulation following an incident at his home on Sheridan Street between 11 p.m. Saturday and 1 a.m. Sunday.
Elder’s wife reportedly told Monongahela Police that Elder woke her up the night before to tend to their crying 10-month-old daughter.
The couple had been having problems, she told police, as Elder was having a difficult time with his father’s death. The woman told police Elder wanted to talk to her but she did not want to, which made him angry, according to the court records.
When Caitlin Elder began to put on her shoes to leave with their child, Thomas Elder said he didn’t want her to take their daughter and choked his wife, police alleged.
Caitlin Elder went upstairs to their child’s room and was on the bed when her husband came in and started choking her while she was laying down with her daughter, causing her not to breath and to let go of their daughter, police said.
She told police that Thomas Elder said to her, “Now you’re not leaving”, and she locked herself in the bedroom until she was able to leave in the morning with her daughter. Police said they observed and photographed bruising consistent with choking.
Thomas Elder was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Mark Wilson and is lodged in the Washington County Prison in lieu of $25,000 bond.
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled before Wilson at 9 a.m. Oct. 26.