New Kensington man charged with threatening to kill woman during fight

New Kensington police on Sunday charged a 32-year-old man with strangling a woman, who claims the man threatened to kill her.

Police said they responded to a fight in the 400 block of Fourth Avenue around 2:15 p.m. Saturday. Police said, while heading there, they were told that the man, Benjamin A. Ploski, was holding the woman down, according to a criminal complaint against Ploski.

In the complaint, police said when they knocked on the door, they heard a woman yelling, shortly after which she opened the door and ran outside. Police said the woman told them Ploski had been holding her down against her will.

From upstairs, Ploski yelled that he would not come down and that he had a weapon. Police said Ploski complied with their commands to come down about a minute later; he was checked and had no weapon.

According to the complaint, the woman told police she and Ploski had been arguing throughout the day. When she tried to leave, the woman claimed Ploski grabbed her by the hair, pulled her away from a door and held her down around her upper arms.

The woman claimed Ploski grabbed her by the neck and threatened to kill her during an assault Friday night.

In the complaint, an officer says he saw fresh bruising and marks around the woman’s upper arms and neck.

Police charged Ploski with misdemeanor counts of strangulation, simple assault, unlawful restraint and terroristic threats. He did not have an attorney listed in court records.

Ploski was arraigned early Sunday morning and sent to the Westmoreland County Prison on $50,000 bond. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 22.