Norton man charged with strangulation

Mcdonald
MONTROSE — A Randolph County man is behind bars and accused of strangling a pregnant woman.
Anthony Charles Mcdonald, 21, of Norton, is charged with strangulation, a felony. He was being held in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $5,000 cash-only bond, which has been posted.
According to the criminal complaint, prepared by Deputy J. Wolfe of the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, at about 1:21 a.m. on Saturday morning, officers responded to a call of a domestic altercation near Montrose.
Officers arrived at the scene to find “two shirtless males in the driveway,” one of which was Mcdonald, the complaint states. Wolfe asked Mcdonald if he was intoxicated, and he allegedly responded, “I’m 21 but yes.” Wolfe writes that Mcdonald exhibited bloodshot, watery eyes and slurred speech.
Mcdonald said people were accusing him of hitting a woman, but denied that he did so, according to the complaint. Inside a vehicle at the scene, officers spoke to the alleged victim, along with her parents and her boyfriend. The alleged victim said Mcdonald “choked me out” and that she “almost passed out and fell.”
Two of the people in the vehicle told officers they witnessed Mcdonald strangle the alleged victim, and “struck (her) in the stomach,” the complaint states. The alleged victim is “reported to be in the early stages of pregnancy.”
The alleged victim said she and Mcdonald “never had a relationship,” and Mcdonald “did not know the female’s name,” according to the complaint.
If found guilty of the strangulation charge, Mcdonald could be sentenced to from one to five years in prison, and fined up to $2,500.