KEITH WHITCOMB JR.

Staff Writer

BENNINGTON -- A Gage Street man was held without bail Monday after pleaded not guilty to multiple charges that he attacked an ex-girlfriend and prevented her from leaving a party.

Kyle Ware, 20, was charged with kidnapping -- bodily harm or fear; aggravated assault, second degree unlawful restraint, two counts of unlawful mischief, interference with access to emergency services, and alcohol possession by a minor. He will be held pending a bail hearing.

According to an affidavit by Trooper Robert Zink, of the Vermont State Police, on Sunday at 6:02 a.m. he went to a woman’s house in Pownal and found her upset and crying. She said she had been in a relationship with Ware but broke up with him recently over his drinking habits. She said that more recently she’d been spending time with him and went to a party with him Saturday night.

She said that after she went to sleep, she was woken up by Ware at around 3 a.m. He had read messages on her phone from other men and this upset him. She said the violence started when they went out on the porch and he shoved her over a chair. She said they went back inside and she was strangled four or five times over the course of the entire three-hour incident.

She told police she was shoved into a fire place once, and when she left the house to get help, Ware carried her back. He also destroyed her cell phone. At one point, the owner of the house they were in spoke to Ware, and she used the opportunity to drive away. She said Ware broke her windshield with his fist and held onto the car as she drove off.

She said prior to this, Ware held a broken beer bottle to his neck and wrist, threatening to kill himself. Police said that information led them to force entry into the house when they went looking for Ware, but no one answered the door.

Police did not locate Ware at the home, or as his residence in Bennington, but were contacted later in the day by Bennington attorney David Silver who said he had told Ware to go to the Shaftsbury barracks but not answer questions. Police said Ware showed up and was processed.