BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

LOVELY — A domestic disturbance on Riverfront Road Saturday night left a man in handcuffs after authorities say he allegedly choked and assaulted his ex-girlfriend.

Martin County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Jimmy Dale Maynard, 45, of Warfield, on charges of fourth-degree assault (domestic violence), second-degree strangulation and terroristic threatening.

Deputy Justin Bellamy responded to the call just after midnight at a residence on River Road in Lovely. By the time officers arrived, Maynard had fled on foot, heading toward Collins Creek. It did not take long for authorities to locate him and bring him back to the residence, where details of the altercation began to emerge.

Maynard’s ex-girlfriend, Alisha Moore, described what started as a verbal argument but spiraled out of control. According to Moore, Maynard choked her, slapped her across the face, and bit her forehead in a fit of rage. She added that he threatened to “slit her throat.”

Police noted Moore’s injuries in their report: bruising on both sides of her neck, red marks across her face and forehead and a cut behind her ear.

Maynard, however, gave a different account. He admitted the two had argued and acknowledged threatening Moore but claimed she initiated the violence by knocking out one of his teeth with a food can. While he admitted to pushing Moore, he denied choking or biting her.