KINGWOOD, W.Va. — A Masontown man was in jail in lieu of $225,000 bond Monday after police say he strangled a woman and chased her with a knife over the weekend.
State Police charged Joshua Luther Thrasher, 32, with two counts of strangulation, along with domestic assault and fleeing from an officer. According to criminal complaints:
They responded to a call in Reedsville about 6 p.m. Saturday. Thrasher was not there. The victim said that they had an argument and he pushed her onto the bed and began to strangle her.
She escaped and went downstairs, but Thrasher caught her in a choke hold with his arm and again began strangling her, according to the complaints. The victim said she escaped again and Thrasher took a butcher knife from the kitchen and chased her. At one point he stabbed a Christmas bear decoration and threw it at her, she said.
A relative of the woman became involved in the altercation and neighbors heard banging noises and a man telling “Josh” that he would not help him up “until you take that knife off your side.”
Others supported the victim’s description of events, according to the complaints. Thrasher was found fleeing on foot and arrested. Strangulation is a felony.
Story by Kathy Plum