A Scranton man beat up his girlfriend, leaving her bloody and with two black eyes, according to a criminal complaint.
Joseph Soriano, 31, faces charges of assault and false imprisonment.
According to the authorities, at about 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 18, city officers were called to Prospect Avenue for the report of a domestic assault. When officers arrived, a female was pointing at a vehicle backing up toward Prospect Avenue from Beech Street, with Soriano at the wheel.
Officers ordered Soriano to stop, but he didn’t.
Officer Patrick Vanwie drew his service weapon and approached the moving car, ordering Soriano to stop and show his hands. Soriano initially hesitated, but then did come to a stop. Police removed a female from the back seat, later identified as Soriano’s girlfriend.
The woman was crying and had two black eyes.
Soriano kept asking, “What did I do?” when officers removed him from his vehicle. He repeatedly asked to speak with his girlfriend.
Officers spoke with the victim, who was reluctant to tell her story.
With encouragement from a friend, she told police that Soriano had beaten her up about an hour before inside the vehicle.
She said he punched her three times in the face and pulled her hair in an attempt to drag her out of the car.
Emergency medical responders then escorted her to an ambulance, where she disclosed Soriano hit her so hard that she lost a tooth and swallowed it.
She was transported to Geisinger Community Medical Center for evaluation.
Officer Jack Carroll searched Soriano’s vehicle and found blood on the seats and near the driver’s side door.
Soriano remains at Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $75,000 bail.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10:45 a.m. on Jan. 27 before District Judge Alyce Farrell.