Police: Latrobe woman assaulted, choked after asking man to lower radio volume

A 32-year-old woman was punched and strangled by a man outside a Latrobe apartment complex after she asked him to lower the volume of his radio, police said.

The woman was flown by medical helicopter to a Pittsburgh hospital because of the extent of her injuries.

The man, Lionel Thomas, 59, of Latrobe, was arraigned Friday on charges of aggravated assault, harassment, simple assault and strangulation after the incident that occurred in a yard along the 100 block of Jefferson Street.

City police said they were dispatched for a report of an assault and when they arrived after 10:30 p.m. Thursday they found the woman “laying face down on a picnic table gasping for air and in physical distress.”

Witnesses told police that they were in the backyard of the apartment house and the woman and Thomas were sitting on a picnic table nearby when she asked Thomas to turn down the volume of his radio.

Witnesses told police that Thomas pushed the woman off the table and began choking and strangling her. Police allege he also repeatedly punched the woman.

She was unable to speak, but communicated with police by nodding or shaking her head, police said.

Paramedics from Mutual Aid Ambulance recommended the woman be flown to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh for treatment due to the extent of her injuries, police said.

Thomas is being held in the county prison after failing to post $5,000 bond, pending a preliminary hearing July 11, according to court records.

According to online court dockets, in January 2020 Thomas pleaded guilty in Washington County to simple assault for assaulting a woman in Washington and was sentenced to serve a 3-to-12 month jail sentence. A charge of strangulation was dismissed as part of the plea agreement, according to court records.

Thomas did not have an attorney listed in court documents.