KEITH WHITCOMB JR.
Staff Writer
BENNINGTON -- A man who police said attacked a former girlfriend over messages he read on her phone while at a party pleaded guilty to a number of charges Jan. 28.
Kyle J. Ware, 20, of Gage Street, was sentenced to serve between two and four years in prison; however, the sentence will be deferred for five years.
Ware pleaded guilty to second degree unlawful restraint, misdemeanor domestic assault, interference with access to emergency services, possession of alcohol by a minor, and two counts of unlawful mischief. The state dropped aggravated assault and kidnapping charges.
Ware, who has been incarcerated for six months, will get credit for the amount of time he serves. The deferral on his sentence means that if he can follow court conditions for five years he will not have to serve the underlying sentence and can have the record of the incident sealed. The two- to four-year sentence was on the unlawful restraint, while Ware had lesser sentences on the other charges, for which he was recommended for pre-approved furlough as well as domestic violence programming.
Ware was arraigned on the original charges in July.
According to an affidavit by Vermont State Police, on July 15 they were summoned to a woman's home in Pownal at around 6 a.m. for a reported domestic disturbance. There, a woman told them she and Ware had been dating for a time, but had broken up. She told police they were on good enough terms to attend the party together, where they went to sleep, but she was woken up at 3 a.m. by Ware, who was upset over messages sent to her on her cell phone. She said they were out on the porch when Ware shoved her over a chair, then strangled her a number of times while inside over the course of a three-hour period. During that time, according to the woman, Ware destroyed her cell phone, carried her back inside after she tried to leave, and damaged her car when she finally did manage to escape.
Contact Keith Whitcomb Jr. at kwhitcomb@benningtonbanner.com. Follow him on Twitter @kwhitcombjr
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