Sycamore man’s charges withdrawn
Charges were withdrawn last week against a Sycamore man accused earlier this year of keeping his wife at his father’s house against her will for several months.
Morris Township police Chief Michael Natale said they dropped the charges against John H. McDonald Jr., 40, of WW Railroad Road, before his preliminary hearing Thursday at the request of his wife, Pam McDonald.
“She told me she didn’t want to pursue the charges because she didn’t want to ruin his life,” Natale said.
The charges included two counts of terroristic threats, unlawful restraint, simple assault and harassment.
Police were notified of the situation in mid-July after she told investigators he grabbed her while she was in the shower and pinned her against the back of the stall, allegedly choking her with his arm across her neck. She wrote in a statement to investigators about certain instances of abuse dating back to December, police said last month.
Natale said earlier she wasn’t “physically barred from leaving” her father-in-law’s house, but it was in a rural area and McDonald Jr. allegedly took her car keys.