Man charged with assault on girlfriend
A man accused of holding a 13-inch knife to his girlfriend's throat as police kicked in the door to break up a domestic dispute has been charged with assault and false imprisonment.
Harry H. Branch Jr., 42, of 116 W. Franklin St. in Hagerstown, allegedly held a knife against his girlfriend's throat and punched and slapped her in the face during an altercation Monday evening in an apartment in the 100 block of West Franklin Street in Hagerstown, a charging document states.
Just before an officer from the Hagerstown Police Department began kicking at the door, Branch allegedly blockaded the apartment's rear door, and he told four women inside the apartment, "No one is going anywhere." When Branch allowed police into the apartment, he told them everything was fine, the document states.
Branch was charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and four counts of false imprisonment, Washington County District Court records indicate. He was at Washington County Detention Center Thursday night, a deputy said.
