District judge orders Tarentum man accused of strangling his girlfriend twice to stand trial

A Tarentum man accused of strangling his girlfriend during separate altercations earlier this month has been ordered to stand trial.

James Robert Miller, 46, of the 100 block of Heuser Way was charged Aug. 8 with two felony counts of strangulation along with two counts each of making terroristic threats, simple assault, harassment and a count of resisting arrest.

Miller was being detained in the Allegheny County Jail following his arrest after a judge denied bail, ruling that Miller is a danger to the victim, according to court records.

District Judge Carolyn Bengel ordered Miller to stand trial on the charges after an Aug. 17 preliminary hearing. Formal arraignment in Allegheny County Court is scheduled for Oct. 3.

Police wrote in a criminal complaint that officers responding to a call for a domestic dispute just before midnight Aug. 7 found the woman Miller is accused of assaulting suffering from swelling and bruising on her eyes, mouth, arms and neck.

The woman told police that Miller began arguing with her when she returned home from work and then attacked her, the complaint said.

She said Miller pulled her to the ground by her hair, got on top of her and began choking her until she couldn’t breathe, the complaint said.

She told officers she was able to break free from Miller after he started pressing his thumbs into her eye sockets by hitting him in the head with an iron skillet, police said.

The woman told police Miller followed her into the next room, threw her on a chair and punched her in the face multiple times before she was able to push him off and run from the house to call 911, the complaint said.

An emergency medical crew transported the woman to Allegheny Valley Hospital for treatment of her injuries, the complaint said.

Police said they found Miller lying in the doorway to the bathroom with a gash on his head.

When officers questioned him about what happened, he told them he had been drinking “a lot of Jim Beam” bourbon that night.

Police said Miller threatened to beat the woman “as soon as I see her” and tried to crawl out of the house.

An officer used a stun gun to subdue Miller after he began to resist being placed in handcuffs, the complaint said.

When police interviewed the woman at the hospital, she told them she and Miller also argued Aug. 5 and that he held a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her, the complaint said.

She told investigators she left the home for several days after Miller put his hands around her throat and choked her during the incident, the complaint said.