Crime & Safety

Woman Punched, Hit Fiance with Metal Rod, Police Say

Metal rod used in alleged attack came from victim's back brace, police say.

A Bethlehem woman removed a metal rod from her fiance’s back brace and beat him with it early Thursday, police said.

Tiffany Marie Hanley, 22, of 44 E. Garrison St., also allegedly punched her fiancé in the face a number of times, causing a lump under his right eye and a cut on the bridge of his nose, according to an arrest affidavit filed by Bethlehem police.

When police arrived at the couple’s apartment at a little before 4 a.m., they found the fiancé on the ground and Hanley standing over him and screaming obscenities at him, according to the warrant.

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The man was lying on the ground in “an upward fetal position with his arms and hands covering the back of his head and neck,” Officer Jeffrey Lutte wrote in the affidavit.

The alleged victim told police that he suffers from a degenerative bone condition called osteomyelitis, which necessitates the use of the back brace, according to the warrant.

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Lutte wrote that he saw a red welt and laceration on the alleged victim’s right shoulder where he said Hanley had hit him with the rod from the back brace. The alleged victim also said Hanley punched him several times an hour-and-a-half earlier during an argument outside of the apartment, the affidavit said.

Hanley was charged with aggravated assault, simple assault and harassment. She was arraigned before on-duty District Judge James Narlesky of Hanover Township and committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $25,000 bail.


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