ST. GEORGE, Maine — A St. George man is being held at the Knox County Jail after police said he choked a woman and pulled out a clump of her hair.
James A. Howard, 45, is being held in lieu of $10,000 cash bail. He made his initial court appearance Monday afternoon in Rockland District Court, where bail was set.
Howard was arrested Friday night at his residence in St. George after officers responded to a 911 call in which a person hung up without saying anything. When Knox County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived, they could hear thumping sounds inside and a man yell something about a telephone.
Officers went to the door and were met by a woman who was holding a clump of hair she said Howard yanked out of her head. The woman also said Howard had choked her. Deputies reported that the woman’s neck was red.
Howard told officers the two had been arguing all day about lack of money leading up to Christmas. He said he was defending himself against the woman. He also said he threw her telephone because he thought she was calling her mother, which he said she always did when they had an argument. The phone was found broken on the floor.
Howard was arrested and taken to jail.