The attorney for suspended Pottsville patrolman Matthew Waite, accused in an alleged physical domestic disturbance earlier this year, questioned the credibility of the alleged victim in the case during a hearing on Tuesday.
Lindsey Waite, Matthew’s wife and the alleged victim, testified in front of District Magistrate Judge AJ Serina during a preliminary hearing on Tuesday.
In her testimony, Waite said her husband bumped her with his vehicle four times, just above her knees, as he attempted to leave their Schuylkill Haven home on the night of Feb. 28.
She said she was standing in front of the vehicle, trying to prevent him from leaving. After taking a prescription medication, she said she was worried that there’d be no adult in the house to be with their toddler if she fell asleep.
“I stood in front of his vehicle so he would stay home. He moved forward and hit me enough that I had to catch my bearings,” she said on the stand. “He put his car in reverse and did it again.”
However, this detail about getting bumped by the vehicle was not included in the original police affidavit filed at Waite’s arraignment.
“You don’t find that weird,” the defendant’s attorney, Matthew Banks, asked Waite several times during his cross examination of her.
“I don’t know,” she answered.
Schuylkill Have Police officer Preston Gehring testified that he was not told that Waite had bumped his wife with his vehicle that night.
Waite, the patrolman, is accused of shoving his wife to the ground during a domestic dispute. Lindsey Waite originally told police that her husband grabbed her under her arms and shoved her to the ground to move her out of his way.
He reportedly told police back in February that he treated her as if she was resisting – a reference to his job – and moved her out of the way.
When police arrived that night to investigate, Waite had left the scene but later returned home. Gehring also testified that Waite cooperated with their investigation after he returned home.
With regard to the alleged shoving, Waite’s wife testified Tuesday that her husband also got her to the ground by kicking her legs out from under her. She said he put one of his legs in front of her legs to get her down.
Testimony was also given that Waite grabbed his wife on her biceps during this altercation.
“Get on the (bleeping) ground,” he yelled at her, according to her testimony on Tuesday.
That did not cause her to get on the ground initially but eventually she said she gave up and went limp and fell to the ground.
At that point, Patrolman Waite reportedly said, “What the (bleep) did you do that for? You’re just trying to frame me.”
Gehring testified that the wife never reported that specific part of the altercation during his initial investigation.
Serina decided to hold charges of simple assault and harassment over for Schuylkill County Court of Common Pleas. He said, “There’s stuff here but not stuff for today .”
Waite remains suspended with pay from the Pottsville police force.
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