Man She Met on Lava Life Choked and Robbed Her, Woman Says

A Pembroke Road woman didn’t exactly fall for the man she met through a telephone dating line.

Instead, Bethlehem police said, she was choked unconscious by the man who then stole her cell phone and $80 from her purse.

John Eleazer, 43, was charged early Friday in the June robbery and assault. Court papers did not specify a home address for Eleazer, though the alleged victim told police that he had been staying with her for about a month since moving from Virginia Beach, Va.

The woman told police she had met him through Lava Life, a telephone and online dating service.

The woman complained of neck and hip pain and was treated and released at St. Luke’s University Hospital in Fountain Hill following the June 2 attack.

She told police that Eleazer—whom she only knew as John Matthew—had come up from behind her in her home and placed her in a choke hold until she blacked out. When she regained consciousness, she told police, Eleazer was still there and making statements “that he is going to jail.”

Eleazer then ripped the house phone cord out of the wall and fled, police said.

Eleazer was charged with robbery and aggravated assault, both felonies, along with theft, receiving stolen property, simple assault and harassment.

He was arraigned early Friday before District Judge David Tidd of Lower Saucon Township and committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $30,000 bail.