Judge reaffirms no contact with victim
A Butler County judge denied a request to remove a no contact provision from a man charged with choking his girlfriend to near unconsciousness during a domestic dispute and then allegedly intimidating her to drop the charges.
Andrew J. Hoy, 24, asked to have the no contact order removed so that he could speak with the woman because “she is an important person in my life.”
Judge William Shaffer denied that request.
Hoy, who is on administrative segregation and handcuff restriction at the jail, continues to be held on a combination of $155,000 bail pending further court proceedings. He is awaiting hearings in four cases, all assault-related.
In the case where Hoy attempted to have the contact provision removed, he was charged with felony aggravated assault, strangulation and simple assault after an incident in the 100 block of West Jefferson Street that continued to the police station on Jan. 17.
Butler police said a woman identified as Hoy's girlfriend reported that Hoy had followed her to the station after she left the apartment. The two had gotten into an argument that escalated, documents said, when Hoy grabbed her by the throat and threw her on the bed.
“He then held her down on the bed (and) began strangling and shaking her,” according to a police affidavit, “to the point where she could not breathe and was losing consciousness.”
He also is accused of hitting her face several times. Officers said the woman suffered injuries to her neck and face.
Upon being arrested Hoy made an unsolicited comment, police said, advising officers to tell the woman “that he deserves everything he gets.”
While being held in the jail Hoy was charged with felony intimidation of a witness and misdemeanor obstructing justice, stemming from nine jailhouse phone calls between Jan. 22 and 24.
In the calls, which are recorded by jail policy, Hoy is heard telling his girlfriend what to say at his upcoming preliminary hearing “to get the charges thrown out,” documents said.
The recorded calls include discussions of the incident, how they were both drinking, the injuries the woman suffered and the court order that prohibited Hoy from contacting her, police said.
During the calls, the woman advises Hoy that she is afraid that the prosecutor in the assault case is aware of their recorded conversations.
“Inmate Hoy tells (her) to calm down and that he has been through all of this before,” documents said. He also tells her, “You need to start listening to me! Tell the judge you want it dropped!”
Hoy was already awaiting trial in connection with two other felony cases, including a domestic assault last year involving a different woman in Butler.
In that case, Hoy is accused of threatening his then-girlfriend with a knife after punching and choking her on May 17, city police said.
He was arrested the next month and charged with threatening the woman's brother with a knife.
Detective David Aldridge, in the most recent criminal complaint against Hoy, noted that the defendant “has shown a serious disregard for the safety of victims” in all his cases.
Hoy also has “displayed a pattern of aggressive behavior,” Aldridge said, “having been criminally charged three times (since 2017) involving two different female companions.”
Hoy testified Tuesday that while he has faced problems in the past, “this time I'm actually being proactive,” becoming involved in programs at the prison.
“I have no wish to speak to her about the case,” he said.
