Bail increased for Hagerstown man accused of threatening girlfriend

Steven A. Sadzinski faces a second-degree assault charge in domestic dispute

March 22, 2012|By DON AINES | dona@herald-mail.com

A Washington County District Court judge Wednesday increased bail from $500,000 to $750,000 for a Hagerstown man who told a police officer and a court commissioner he wanted to kill his girlfriend.

Police went to the East Franklin Street apartment of Steven A. Sadzinski, 51, and Nancy Mullinex shortly before 8:30 a.m. Tuesday for a domestic dispute, according to the statement of probable cause filed by Hagerstown police.

When police arrived, Sadzinski was on the porch drinking a beer, and Mullinex was inside sweeping, the charging documents said.

Mullinex told the officer they had argued over who should clean the apartment, and Sadzinski began smashing things with a hammer, including a television and a computer, the documents said.

Sadzinski tried to lock Mullinex in a bedroom and put her in a choke hold, the documents said.

“I was a little surprised bond was so high” for a second-degree assault charge, Assistant State’s Attorney Michelle Flores told Judge Dana Moylan Wright at the bail-review hearing Wednesday.

However, Flores told Wright that she had just learned that Sadzinski had told the court commissioner on Tuesday: “I should have just ... killed her.”

“At that point in time, I was highly aggravated,” Sadzinski said via a closed-circuit TV link from the Washington County Detention Center.

Sadzinski made a similar comment to the officer at the apartment when asked if he had any weapons, Flores said.

“I wish I did so I could kill (her),” was Sadzinski’s answer, the documents said.

Sadzinski was charged in 2009 with carrying a concealed dangerous weapon, a charge that was placed on the inactive docket in 2010, Flores told Wright.

In that case, Sadzinski had a concealed BB gun and was threatening “to kill the first black person he saw on the street,” she said.

“There’s nothing I really need to say,” Sadzinski said when Wright asked if he had information that might prompt her to lower his bail. “I’m just going to plead guilty. That’s all.”

A trial date has been scheduled in district court for Sadzinski on June 27, court records said.

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