A New Philadelphia man is locked up in Schuylkill County Prison after a domestic incident at a Pottsville Skate Park.
According to Pottsville Police, on Sunday, October 22nd, 2023, City Police Officers were dispatched to the Joulwan Park Skate Park in the 700 block of East Norwegian Street for a report of a domestic disturbance in progress.
Additional information provided was that a Hispanic male was punching a female inside a black sedan that was in the parking lot.
Police arrived in the area and made contact with a male, Brenden Rodriguez, age 21, from New Philadelphia, and a 21-year-old female also from New Philadelphia.
Police observed the female had visible injury to her face and neck area, namely redness and swelling that was consistent with being punched and grabbed.
The officer spoke with the female victim who reported she and Rodriguez were driving through Pottsville and had a verbal argument. The argument became physical and Rodriguez began to punch her in the head and face. Rodriguez pulled the vehicle into the Joulwan Park parking lot and continued to grab the victim by the neck and punch her in the face. The visible injury observed was consistent with the victims account of the events.
The victim also informed Police that she is approximately 33 weeks pregnant with Rodriguez's child, and they are no longer dating, however, they still live with each other.
Rodriguez admitted to Sgt. Englert that he "gripped her up", meaning he grabbed the female victim by the neck area of her sweater.
The officer spoke with two witnesses by telephone who stated they saw the vehicle parked in the parking lot with female legs out the window. They added they saw a Hispanic male, Rodriguez, punching the female, in the face. The female victim exited the vehicle yelling for help and trying to get away from the Rodriguez, however, he followed her and threw her again the hood of the vehicle. The witnesses reported that once Rodriguez had the female on the hood of the vehicle, he continued to punch her.
A Criminal Complaint was completed on Rodriguez and a warrant of arrest was requested. He was charged with one count of Simple Assault Pursuant to Domestic Violence (M2), one count of Harassment by Physical Contact (S), and Disorderly Conduct (S).
Rodriguez was later taken into custody and arraigned by on-call Magisterial District Judge Dave Plachko, Port Carbon. He was then locked up in Schuylkill County Prison unable to post $50,000 straight cash bail.