The alleged assault of a pregnant woman and her unborn child began following a verbal altercation on Dec. 19 in a Brothersvalley Township residence, according to state police.
Police said Andrew Ashurst, 25, of Berlin, pushed the pregnant victim into the toilet causing her to strike her head. They added he struck her in the appendix area. He then pulled her around the house by her hair and slapped and struck her in the face with a cell phone, according to Somerset County District Attorney Molly Metzgar in a press release.
“It is further alleged that the defendant refused to allow the victim to call emergency services when she started to go into labor during the assault,” she wrote.
Troopers observed bruising on the victim’s back, arms, eye, cheek and forehead, according to Metzgar.
Ashurst was arraigned before District Judge Douglas McCall Bell in Meyersdale on charges Christmas Eve and lodged in Somerset County Jail on a $50,000 bond, according to the court docket. He faces felony charges of assault of an unborn child and aggravated assault, along with misdemeanors of false imprisonment, unlawful restraint, simple assault and summary harassment.
Other: Jenner man receives new charges related to pregnant victim’s baby
“As a mother, I understand the vulnerability of a woman and her unborn child and I am appalled that anyone would jeopardize the lives of these two people,” Metzgar wrote. “The allegations are unfathomable and I plan to punish these crimes to the fullest extent of the law.”
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Berlin man charged on Christmas Eve with assaulting pregnant woman