JERSEY SHORE - A Jersey Shore man is in jail after allegedly choking his 9-month pregnant wife while threatening to kill both her and their unborn child.
Robert Gene Cox III, 22, of 4828 Route 287, was charged with simple assault and harassment.
Police responded to a report of domestic violence at 7 p.m. on June 28.
Cox's wife, who was not named in court records, told police that she and her husband had been having a verbal argument, when "Cox walked into the bedroom, put his right arm around the victim's neck, pushed her back onto the bed and choked her."
The woman told police that she is nine months pregnant.
"If you're dead then the baby is dead, so I don't have to worry," Cox allegedly told his wife.
According to the victim, she managed to push her husband off of her, but he came back and choked her again. She told police that she was afraid that he would not stop.
When officers spoke to Cox, he said authorities were summoned "because I choked my wife," according to court documents.
Cox was arraigned before District Judge Jerry C. Lepley and is incarcerated in lieu of $7,500 bail.
