A Saugerties man is facing misdemeanor assault charges after, town police said, he attacked a woman after she told him she was pregnant.
At about 8:46 p.m. on Tuesday, May 28, town police said officers responded to EmUrgent Care on Route 9W. A woman told detectives, police said, that when she told 22-year-old Elijah J. Lyons that she was pregnant, she and Lyons began to argue. Things escalated, with the victim telling officers that Lyons pulled her around by her hair and hit her in the face, causing injury, bruising and swelling to her eye.
The victim, police said, was transported by Diaz ambulance to the HealthAlliance Hospital’s Broadway Campus for additional care. Officers took Lyons into custody without incident.
He now faces charges of misdemeanor third-degree assault and violation second-degree harassment. Following arraignment, Lyons was released pending a future court appearance. The court issued an order of protection on the victim’s behalf.
Police said that after news of the arrest was published in local media, another woman came forward to report an assault by Lyons. The victim told police that on May 20, she had gone to Lyons’ residence on Leonard Lane to visit him. The victim reported that shortly after arriving, the two began to argue, and that during the argument, Lyons threw a bucket as her, causing soft tissue damage to her leg, and then chased the victim while swinging a fire extinguisher, threatening to hit and eventually causing injury to the victim’s arm.
Police said the incident was video recorded by another person present but not involved in the incident.
Lyons was located and arrested for the second day in a row, once again for third-degree assault.
In an interview Friday, May 31, Lyons’ mother, Heather Free, vehemently denied that the discovery of the victim’s pregnancy was the root of the dispute.
“It is bad enough what allegedly happened happened, but to have it painted in the light that he’s some kind of monster that flew off the handle and decked someone when she said she was pregnant is completely untrue,” she said.
Also interviewed Friday, town Police Chief Joseph Sinagra stood by the account offered in his press release.
“This is what [the victim] told the officer. She told the officer that the argument began after she informed [Lyons] that she was 10 weeks pregnant,” Sinagra said.
“This department takes any type of domestic violence very seriously. We obtain information from depositions, we conduct investigations and based on those investigations that outcome results in the arrest of those perpetrators,” the chief added
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