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New Kensington police accuse man of assaulting woman, holding her captive

Brian C. Rittmeyer
| Wednesday, May 11, 2022 10:01 a.m.
Courtesy of Westmoreland County
Zachery Darnell Hickman

A New Kensington man is accused of stripping a woman naked, pouring cold water all over her and forcing her to sit in front of an open window with fans blowing on her on a cold night.

That was just one of several ways New Kensington police allege that Zachery Darnell Hickman, 32, assaulted the woman between Sunday and his arrest on Monday morning.

In a criminal complaint against Hickman, police said officers went to the home in the 1600 block of Westview Drive around 11:20 a.m. in response to a 911 call from the woman.

Officers found Hickman near the front porch with bloody bandages taped to his right leg.

Police said Hickman was under a court order from a previous case not to have any contact with the woman. Police said Hickman knew this, but he claimed he believed that he could be there if she wasn’t home.

Police said officers at first could not find the woman, who was also not answering calls from 911. While searching the home for her, police said officers found a marijuana grow closet that included plants, pots, soil, water and fluorescent lighting.

Officers eventually found the woman nearby hiding in a car with heavily tinted windows.

Police said the woman described to them the assaults she had been suffering since Sunday.

According to the complaint, she told officers that Hickman had awakened her around midnight and began punching her repeatedly in the face and head and hit her in the stomach.

After forcing her to sit naked and wet in front of an open window, she said he allowed her to dress and she fell asleep. After waking up, the woman said, Hickman refused to let her leave. She said she tried several times, but Hickman would “choke” her and pull her back inside the house.

The woman said Hickman woke her up Monday screaming and saying he had cut his foot. She said Hickman threw a jar at her and yelled at her.

Hickman was bleeding from one of his legs. The woman said she tried to dress the wound, but Hickman got angry because the tape she used wasn’t medical tape. She told officers that’s when she ran outside, hid in her car and called 911.

Hickman did not have an attorney listed in court records.

New Kensington police charged Hickman with a felony count of strangulation and a felony drug offense and misdemeanor charges of unlawful restraint, simple assault, and use or possession of drug paraphernalia.

He was arraigned before District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr. and sent to the Westmoreland County jail after being unable to post a $40,000 bond.

Hickman is scheduled for a preliminary hearing before Pallone on May 26.


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