Feb 25, 2021 2 min read

A Pittsburgh man is in jail in connection with a domestic disturbance in Donora early Wednesday.

According to the criminal complaint, Robert James Thomas, 32, argued with a woman, Persia Lewis, while she was driving them to Donora from Uniontown about 2:15 a.m. She told police she was about to call her father when Thomas grabbed her throat and started choking her.

The complaint states that Thomas then took $245 from her bag. When they arrived at Lewis’ mother’s home on Seventh Street, Thomas sat on the front steps. Lewis told police that she didn’t want Thomas in her car or on her mother’s property, so she asked him to leave, the complaint said.

Thomas started walking away when Lewis threw a cup of water at him and asked for the $245 back. He then climbed through the car window and started choking her again, the complaint said.

Lewis told police that she tried to drive to the police station while being choked, but by the time they got to Sixth Street, Thomas had put the car in park, the complaint said. Before he fled on McKean Avenue, Thomas took Lewis’ phone and bag, according to the complaint.

When police arrested Thomas on McKean Avenue, he smelled of alcohol and appeared intoxicated, the complaint said. Police said they could not locate the phone or bag.

Lewis had marks on her neck, police said, but refused treatment.

Thomas was charged with four counts of theft, two counts of strangulation, recklessly endangering another person, simple assault, disorderly conduct, public drunkenness and two counts of harassment. He was arraigned by District Judge Joshua Kanalis and jailed on $25,000 bond.