Christopher Joseph, 27, of Nashua

NASHUA – While domestic assault suspect Christopher Joseph denied accusations he strangled a female known to him, pointed a gun at her head from a foot away, smashed her cell phone as she tried to call for help, and became enraged when the woman refused to perform a sex act on him, he did admit to arguing with her and allegedly throwing a roll of toilet paper that hit her in the head, according to police reports detailing an early-morning series of incidents last week.

Joseph, 27, of 394 Main St., who later in the morning went to police headquarters on his own after learning that detectives wanted to speak with him, would end up under arrest on a combination of felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from the allegations put forth by the alleged victim and statements taken from a half-dozen witnesses – including her mother.

The charges include one count each of domestic violence – criminal threatening with a deadly weapon, and second-degree assault, strangulation – domestic violence, Class B felonies; and one count each, domestic violence – simple assault; domestic violence – obstructing the report of a crime or injury; and criminal mischief, all Class A misdemeanors.

The Superior Court judge who arraigned Joseph the next day ordered him held without bail pending a dispositional hearing, which is currently scheduled for Jan. 19.

According to police reports, officers were initially called to the intersection of Main and Pratt streets by a woman who said she heard a female screaming “get off me” and “call 911.”

At the same time, a man who lives nearby told officers he saw people in the road, two of whom were arguing, and that he believed one of them, a woman, “had her phone broken … .”

When officers located the alleged victim, she told them that she and Joseph were initially arguing at a residence on nearby Russell Avenue, and when she “SOS called” her mother, he allegedly became enraged, “proceeded to grab her by the back of her neck and squeeze … causing her to lose vision,” police reported.

She told police Joseph allegedly grabbed her phone and smashed it on the ground, but later, Joseph told police he tried to take it from her but it fell to the ground.

The alleged victim said she, Joseph and some other friends were drinking at a downtown pizza restaurant, and it was shortly after they left and went to the Russell Avenue residence that they began arguing – allegedly because she declined his request to perform a sex act upon him, according to police reports.

The argument reportedly moved outside, which caught the attention of the witnesses. But once the alleged victim and Joseph were back inside the Russell Avenue residence, their friend who lives there noticed police had pulled up outside and she went to speak with them.

That’s when Joseph allegedly threw the roll of toilet paper at the alleged victim, then, according to police reports, “produced a .22 caliber Walther pistol from his pants and pointed it directly” at her head.

She allegedly drew up into a fetal position, fearing, she told police, that Joseph “was either going to shoot her or strike her with the firearm … (she) advised she was in fear for her life at this moment.”

She told police that as he allegedly pointed the gun at her head, Joseph allegedly “said something to the effect of ‘you should be scared of me now, (expletive).'”

She said she believes that Joseph “put the pistol down” when he heard the resident coming back into the house, the reports state.

At that point she was able to flee, she told police, and called her mother to pick her up at a nearby convenience store.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

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