LIBERTY – A 21-year-old Liberty man was arrested twice within about four hours Tuesday after police said they witnessed him assault an intimate partner and then violate an order of protection issued less than 10 minutes earlier.
Liberty police said officers responded to a 911 call about a dispute in a municipal parking lot at about 5 p.m. and saw Marion Black punching a woman with whom he was in an intimate relationship.
Black allegedly resisted arrest and officers used physical force to take him into custody. He suffered a forehead laceration during the struggle and was treated at Garnet Health Medical Center-Catskills before being released.
Black was charged with third-degree assault and resisting arrest, both misdemeanors. He was arraigned in Liberty Town Court before Judge Shortall and released on his own recognizance. The judge also issued a stay-away order of protection barring Black from contacting the woman or going to her home or workplace.
Police said officers continued monitoring Black after his release because they believed he might return to the woman’s residence. They said they observed him near several businesses on Main Street before he headed toward her home.
Officers intercepted Black before he could reach the residence or contact the woman, police said.
Black was arrested a second time and charged with second-degree criminal contempt, a misdemeanor, for allegedly violating the order of protection.
He was again arraigned before Shortall, who set bail at $10,000 cash, $25,000 bond or $50,000 secured bond. Black was remanded to the Sullivan County Jail.
Police Chief Steven D’Agata credited officers with taking additional steps to protect the alleged victim.
“Based on what they had witnessed and their experience investigating domestic violence, they believed there was a real possibility that this defendant would immediately attempt to return to the victim,” D’Agata said.
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