Man arrested for choking, pointing rifle at woman
A Slippery Rock man was arrested Tuesday after police say he assaulted an ex-girlfriend by pointing a rifle at her and choking her.
Derek Scott Cameron, 20, was charged with felony aggravated assault, strangulation, misdemeanor terroristic threats, false imprisonment, simple assault and summary harassment after an incident Tuesday in the 100 block of Weaver Lane, Slippery Rock Township.
State police filed the charges after a report of a domestic dispute at 2:03 a.m. Police said a woman, who fled the home, reported that she gave her ex-boyfriend, Cameron, a ride home. When they got to his house, the woman told police, Cameron refused to get out of the car. She reported that Cameron then took the keys out of the ignition and refused to give them back.
The woman said she got out of the car and Cameron slammed her into a garage door, according to the affidavit of probable cause. She ran to the vehicle and Cameron followed and got into the car with her before putting his hands around her neck and slamming her head off the car window, the criminal complaint states.
Police said he then took her phone and threw it, and the woman ran into the house, locking the door and getting a phone from Cameron's friend, who was at the home. Cameron's friend then let him into the house after he pounded on the door and Cameron took the phone from the woman, police said.
Police said Cameron then calmed down and allowed the woman to call her mother before picking up a rifle and putting it into his mouth, threatening to kill himself. He then pointed the rifle at the woman, who pushed the rifle away and ran for the door before Cameron tackled her to the ground, screaming and hitting her in the face and head, the complaint states.
Cameron then choked the woman to the point she couldn't breath, police said. She managed to fight him off and run to the road to meet her mother, who was already on the way to the home, court documents state.
Cameron was arraigned Tuesday by District Judge William O'Donnell, and is being held in Butler County Prison on $50,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled May 30 in O'Donnell's court.
