3 Domestic Disturbances in 1 Hour in Bethlehem

Between 2am and shortly after 3am Saturday, Bethlehem police were kept busy with three domestic disturbances.

In one case, a man allegedly punched his girlfriend, but it was a neighbor and the victim’s mother who helped lead police to the boyfriend. Police arrested him after he climbed out a second-story window onto a roof.

In another case, a woman’s ex-boyfriend is accused of choking her and saying “he did not care if they both died.” She also was helped by the curiosity of her landlord. The suspect lives at a SouthSide institution that helps homeless men.

And in the third case, a man was told by his ex-wife’s husband – who was brandishing a knife – that he would “kick his a--.”

Court records in all three cases provide the following details:

Christopher S. Turner, 20, of 1541 Irene St. in the city, is charged with hitting his girlfriend, causing a bruise on her forehead.

A clerk at the Taylor Family Gas Station told police he heard a woman screaming for help on the other side of Stefko Boulevard. A woman – later identified as Turner’s girlfriend -- then came to the gas station “and was crying hysterically.”

The woman, whose jacket and pants were covered in a large amount of dirt, told police she and Turner were arguing at his home. She left and tried to call her mother for a ride. She said Turner followed her and grabbed her, trying to get her phone away.

The woman said she tripped and fell – that’s why she was dirty. When police asked her about the mark on her forehead, she said she bumped it two days before.

But a woman who lives on Irene Street said she heard screaming, looked outside and saw a man on top of a woman and he was punching her.

Police also talked to the victim’s mother, who said she last saw her daughter at 4pm Friday and she did not have the bruise then. The mother also said she has suspected “for some time” her daughter was getting hit. The mother said she was always looking for marks on her daughter.

Police went to talk to Turner and found him climbing out a second-story window onto a roof.

He was charged with simple assault and harassment and committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $7,500 bail.

Roger A. Johnson, who turned 44 on Thursday, is charged with choking his ex-girlfriend at her nearby apartment, threatening to kill her and telling her “he did not care if they both died.”

His address is Victory House of Lehigh Valley, 314 Fillmore St. on the SouthSide. Victory House assists homeless men.

The ex-girlfriend told police Johnson was mad at her for calling police earlier to say he was drunk and fighting with her. She had gone out with a friend and found Johnson in her room when she returned.

Her landlord walked downstairs to see what was going on. He said the woman was screaming that Johnson had choked her. When the landlord came in, she ran out to call police.

The landlord said he did not see any choking but heard the disturbance.

Johnson was charged with simple assault, harassment and terroristic threats and committed to county prison in lieu of $20,000 bail.

Ricardo Richard Riquelmy Jr., 30, of 1444 N. Nelson St., Apt. 101, Allentown, is charged with going to a city man’s house brandishing a knife and telling him he would “kick his a--.” The man said Riquelmy is his ex-wife’s husband.

The victim told police he got a call around 12:30am from Riquelmy, who threatened to come to the house on the 800 block of Media St. About 90 minutes later, the man was with his current wife when they heard someone banging on the front door.

The wife looked through a peephole and saw Riquelmy holding a knife. She saw the door handle turn while Riquelmy yelled out for her husband to open the door. Now looking out the living room window, she saw Riquelmy walk toward the back yard.

Police later checked the area and saw a silver 2003 Ford Escape occupied by Riquelmy and two other males. All were “in a reclined position” out of view from outside the vehicle.

Police found Riquelmy with a black folding knife. The man and his wife identified Riquelmy as the man who had been at their home. The records said nothing more about the other two males.

Riquelmy was charged with terroristic threats, harassment and loitering and prowling at night. He was committed to county prison in lieu of $15,000 bail.

All three suspects were arraigned by on-duty District Judge Todd Strohe of Bangor.