Fairfield man to serve at least 7 years in prison for Christmas assault

A Fairfield man was sentenced to serve at least seven years in prison for a Christmas 2020 assault on his wife and another incident four months later in which police he held her captive at knifepoint.

Zachery Allen Collier, 27, pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of aggravated assault, simple assault and stalking in connection with the violent beating of his spouse. Prosecutors dismissed an attempted murder charge in that case.

Police said Collier, his wife and two young children attended a Christmas celebration at friend’s New Florence home at which he used drugs and drank alcohol.

According to court records, police said Collier became enraged after his wife refused to give him car keys after he requested to go home, knocked her to the ground and stomped repeatedly on her head while wearing steel-toed boots before he drove the family home. Collier continued the assault at home.

Police said she sustained multiple facial and head injuries and was hospitalized after the attack.

In a second case, Collier pleaded guilty to burglary, witness intimidation, retaliation against a witness, unlawful restraint and making terroristic threats. Police said that in April 2021, Collier, who had been expelled from the family home, broke into the residence, destroyed his wife’s phone, held her a knife point and kept her captive for 13 hours.

Police said the woman escaped the following morning when she told Collier her absence from work would be noticed. She fled to a neighbor’s home and called for help, police said.

In court on Tuesday, Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio imposed terms of a plea bargain that called for Collier to serve seven to 15 years in prison.