George Montgomery IV

A Butler Township man is behind bars on charges he assaulted and choked a woman both at his home and later at a convenience store Friday night, before driving away in her father's vehicle.

Butler Township police on Saturday arrested George L. Montgomery IV, 26, who was arraigned on a list of charges including three felonies.

The victim, who already had a protection from abuse order against the defendant, was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital for treatment of injuries in the incident, police said.

The woman told police that the PFA had recently been modified to allow Montgomery to speak with her, according to charging documents. The couple Friday also had dinner out together.

But when they returned to the defendant's home on the 200 block of Evans City Road, police said, the victim recounted that he hit, punched and head-butted her.

He allegedly threw her out of the vehicle and onto the ground, and choked her. She said he pulled her into his home where he again hit and choked her.

The victim recalled that she “began to see stars, became lightheaded, and struggled to catch my breath,” documents stated.

Montgomery eventually let her go, and pushed her outside the home, police said. The woman told investigators that he made her drive him around in her Honda CRV after apparently believing police had been called.

The couple at some point made it to the Sheetz store on the 400 block of Evans City Road. The victim accused the defendant of choking her while she was in the driver's seat and parked at the store.

She told police that she passed out, documents said. After regaining consciousness, she managed to flee out the back door of the vehicle and run into the store for help.

Police were called to the store about 11:40 p.m. Officers described the woman as having redness and a bruise on her neck, and a bump on her head.

The suspect was already gone, having driven away in the Honda CRV, which is owned by the victim's father. The owner said he never gave the defendant permission to take the vehicle.

District Judge Lewis Stoughton about 2:30 p.m. Saturday arraigned Montgomery on felony charges of aggravated assault, strangulation and theft, misdemeanor charges of simple assault and reckless endangerment, and a summary charge of harassment.

He was placed in the Butler County Prison in lieu of $75,000 bond with several conditions, including that he may only be released to the county's probation office and that he be placed on pretrial supervision with electronic monitoring.

Stoughton also ordered Montgomery to have no contact with the victim.