BUCKHANNON – An Upshur County man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly strangling one woman and injuring another.
Benjamin W. Workman, 28, of Buckhannon, was arrested for strangulation, a felony, and second-offense domestic battery, a misdemeanor.
According to the criminal complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office filed by investigating officer Sgt. T.M. Stewart with the Buckhannon Police Department on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, Stewart received a call to respond to a South Florida Street residence for a domestic situation.
When Stewart arrived on scene, he found a woman bent over on the sidewalk who was bleeding from the nose and mouth, according to the police report. The woman said her son had struck her, and she was afraid he was attacking her mother, who was still inside the residence. Stewart went inside the house and found a woman with visible marks on the front and back of her neck from being strangled, the police report says.
The woman inside the house told police Workman had been drinking and an argument took place, during which he allegedly grabbed her throat with his hands, the file states. She said her daughter tried to pull Workman off her, so he allegedly grabbed the woman’s daughter and threw her to the floor. The victim inside the house had sustained markings on the sides and back of her neck.
Upshur County Magistrate Alan Suder set bail at $40,000 cash only, $10,000 on the domestic battery charge and $30,000 on the strangulation charge.
The penalty for a conviction of strangulation is confinement in the state penitentiary for not less than one year nor more than five years, a fine of up to $2,500 or both. In addition, the potential penalty for domestic battery second offense is confinement in jail for not less than 60 days nor more than one year, a fine of up to $1,000 or both.
