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Donora man charged for punching and strangling woman

By Mark Hofmann mhofmann@heraldstandard.Com 2 min read

Charges have been filed against a Donora man after he allegedly hit and choked a woman in a California Borough apartment over the weekend.

Donovan L. Piccolo, 36, was charged with aggravated assault, strangulation, simple assault and harassment before on-call Washington County Magisterial District Judge Mark Wilson on April 7.

California Borough Police said they responded to a call concerning a domestic incident in an apartment along Mechanic Street at 3:20 a.m. Saturday where the caller to 911 reportedly heard the incident had been going on for hours.

Police arrived, could hear occupants inside and directed them to open the door multiple times without any success, according to court paperwork.

Officers were able to look into a window to see a female lying on the kitchen floor. They said her back was turned toward the window and she was not moving. They also saw a male, later identified as Piccolo, sitting on the couch, police said.

Police made contact with Piccolo as well as the woman on the floor and identified her as Lyndsey Zelenski.

Zelenski told police that Piccolo assaulted her, but she was unable to call 911 as he took her phone.

According to the complaint, she said Piccolo punched her in the face, grabbed her arms and choked her while on top of her and told her that she couldn’t leave.

Police said they saw red marks on her neck.

Piccolo is currently lodged in the Washington County Prison with bail set at $10,000.

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled before Magisterial District Judge Joshua Kanalis at 10:30 a.m. April 23.

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