New Kensington man charged with strangulation after neighbor calls cops about fight

A New Kensington man was charged with felony strangulation after a neighbor called police to report two people fighting in one of the apartments in her building.

Derek Lee Knuckles, 64, of the 1000 block of Victoria Avenue, also faces a charge of simple assault in connection with the alleged Aug. 20 incident.

He was released from custody on a $5,000 unsecured bond and is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing before District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr. on Sept. 1, according to court records.

An officer wrote in the criminal complaint on the incident that the woman who lives upstairs from Knuckle heard yelling and people fighting before a woman yelled out for her to call 911.

Police said the woman Knuckles is accused of assaulting was wearing a shirt that was “stretched and torn in half” and she had red marks on her neck that appeared to have been caused by pressure being applied.

The woman told police she went into the kitchen to get some food and Knuckles followed her in and began choking her to the point that she could not breathe, the complaint said.

The woman said she tried to escape from Knuckles by dropping to the floor but he punched her in the eye, according to the complaint. She said she was able to break free and flee shortly before police arrived, the complaint said.

Police said the woman had bleeding scratches on her right shoulder, upper back, right eye and throat.

Another woman who was in the apartment told police that she witnessed the woman being choked by Knuckles, the complaint said.