By SAXON DAUGHERTY
Staff writer
New details have emerged in the case against a Cooperstown man who is accused of threatening a woman’s father while holding a firearm.
David Martin Jr., 27, was taken into custody Saturday by Franklin state police following a domestic incident on Cherrytree Road in Oakland Township.
A criminal complaint filed through district judge Andrew Fish’s office said Trooper Keith Johnson was dispatched to the home and spoke to a man who said his daughter arrived at the residence with marks on her neck and bruises on her arm.
The woman told her father that Martin choked her and caused the injuries to her neck during an argument, the complaint said.
The father then drove to his daughter’s house on Cherrytree Road to confront Martin, the complaint said.
The father told Johnson that, upon entry into the home, Martin was holding a pistol and threatened to harm him with it, the complaint said.
Johnson spoke with the woman at her home and she said Martin had grabbed her by the neck and choked her, the complaint said.
Johnson observed red marks on the woman’s neck and a bruise resembling a handprint on her forearm, the complaint said.
In an interview with Johnson, Martin said he did put his hands around the woman’s neck because she was hitting him, the complaint said.
Martin also had a red mark on his forehead, and he told Johnson his relationship with the woman was “toxic,” according to the complaint.
Martin later admitted to having a .40 caliber pistol in his hand when the woman’s father walked through the door of the house, but he said he never pointed the gun or made a threat toward him, the complaint said.
Charges filed against Martin include misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats, strangulation and simple assault, in addition to two summary counts of harassment.
Martin was arraigned Saturday before Fish and placed in the Venango County jail.
Fish denied bail, citing Martin as a threat to society and himself, and the fact that he has a temporary protection-from-abuse order against him.
A preliminary hearing has been tentatively scheduled for Wednesday in Central Court.
