A Ferndale man is charged with assault by strangulation on a woman he had a sexual relationship with after police say he met her at a court-ordered anger management class.Jeffrey Richards, 55, is jailed on $25,000 cash bond and was in Ferndale 43rd District Court for a pre-exam conference Thursday.
In a separate case last month, Richards pleaded no contest to a domestic violence charge in Oak Park 45B District Court involving a female relative during the summer. He was put on probation and ordered to attend anger management classes where police say he met the woman.
Police said Richards had known the 52-year-old Southfield woman he is accused of attacking for about two months before he assaulted her.
The woman called police after she fled from his apartment Sept. 16, police said.
"According to the woman they were having sex but were not in a committed relationship," said Ferndale Police Detective Ken Denmark. "On the night this happened she said they were drinking together when Richards told her he wanted to begin a regular dating relationship. He became upset when the victim told him she was not interested in that."
Richards is accused of grabbing the woman by the neck and pushing her to the floor, police said, before choking her and punching her in the face. The woman told police she lost consciousness at one point.
The woman told police that when she regained consciousness she attempted to placate the suspect, embracing him and telling him she cared about him.
"She was able to calm him down enough so he let her up from the floor and she eventually made her way to the door of the apartment and fled," Denmark said.
Richards was initially arraigned on a second-offense domestic violence charge in Ferndale, but the charge was upgraded Oct. 4 to assault by strangulation, a new law that took effect in Michigan in April.
Violation of the new law is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Michigan is one of about 30 states to pass such a law, which makes non-fatal choking assaults a felony.
The law has been championed by anti-domestic violence groups and many prosecutors.
Richards is scheduled for a preliminary examination on the evidence against him at 2 p.m. Monday in Ferndale District Court.