Police arrested and charged a Saxonburg man Wednesday night after he allegedly beat a woman, strangled her son and then stole her rent money.

“(Butler County dispatchers) informed all units that there was active yelling and screaming, and the caller was saying the male, Matthew Fitzpatrick, was choking her 15-year-old son,” said police in the affidavit about the dispatch.

Fitzpatrick, 50, is charged with felony counts of aggravated assault, strangulation and robbery, as well as misdemeanor simple assault.

District Judge Amy Marcinkiewicz arraigned Fitzpatrick on Thursday, Aug. 25, issuing him a bond of $100,000. Fitzpatrick remains in Butler County Prison.

According to charging documents, as the first officers arrived at a home in Butler Township and exited their vehicle, Fitzpatrick sped away in an SUV. Police said Fitzpatrick was later arrested from his vehicle on Marshall Drive.

Police said they talked with the woman, who said Fitzpatrick was drunk when he arrived at her home that night, and he made two trips to Sheetz to get more alcohol. She told officers Fitzpatrick then wanted her to leave with him, but she did not want to.

“This is when the arguing started,” police said. “Fitzpatrick then went to (the woman’s) bedroom, went to her closet and grabbed her sweater that had her rent money, $440, in the pocket.”

The woman told officers she tried to stop Fitzpatrick, and he threw her into a vanity. Police said her son jumped on Fitzpatrick trying to get the older man off his mother.

“Fitzpatrick then pushed the juvenile male onto the bed, and standing next to the bed, Fitzpatrick started choking the juvenile male with both of his hands around the juvenile male’s neck,” police said.

Police said the woman was able to capture some of the incident on her cell phone, and she began fighting back. The woman told police she managed to oust Fitzpatrick, and lock herself and her son in the bedroom.

Police said Fitzpatrick had a different account. He told officers that the boy had attacked him after an argument involving all three.

“He also told (police) he did not know why he ended up in the bedroom,” police said. “Fitzpatrick said he never touched (the woman or her son) before he left.”

Fitzpatrick is scheduled to appear Sept. 8 for a preliminary hearing before District Judge Kevin O’Donnell.