Arrested this month for
separate incidents in which police say they choked their spouses at their homes
By David Singleton
The Times-Tribune
SCRANTON, Pa. — Two Lackawanna
County Prison correctional officers have been suspended without pay after their
arrests on domestic violence charges.
Lee Kaczmarek, 25, Dunmore, and
Joshua Thomas, 35, Scranton, both of whom were hired by the jail in 2012, were
arrested this month for separate incidents in which police say they choked
their spouses at their homes.
Although he would not identify
the employees, Warden Robert McMillan confirmed Tuesday he suspended two
correctional officers without pay during the past two weeks after their arrests
on criminal charges related to off-duty conduct.
Each suspended officer will
receive a due-process hearing, which typically occurs after the preliminary
hearing, that could result in anything from no action to termination, the
warden said.
The officers each earn $32,972
annually, according to county salary records.
Mr. Kaczmarek faces a
preliminary hearing March 31 at 9:45 a.m. on charges of aggravated and simple
assault, terroristic threats and harassment. The preliminary hearing for Mr.
Thomas, charged with simple assault and harassment, is set for April 21 at 9:15
a.m. Both men are free on bail.
Dunmore police arrested Mr.
Kaczmarek on March 8 after his wife went to police headquarters shortly after 5
a.m. and told officers her husband choked and threatened to kill her at their
home in the 100 block of Gibbons Street.
Holly Kaczmarek, who was
described in the arrest affidavit as visibly shaken and hyperventilating, told
police the couple argued when her husband returned home at 3:30 a.m. after
being out with friends.
Mr. Kaczmarek grabbed her neck
with his right hand and pressed her against the living room couch, choking her
to the point where she could not breathe, while saying, "I wish I could
choke you dead," she told police. During the argument, he told her it
would be no use reporting the incident because he is a prison guard and no one
would believe her.
When questioned later, Mr.
Kaczmarek initially denied there was a physical altercation, police said. However,
when officers asked about marks on his right forearm that were consistent with
his wife trying to remove his hand from her throat, Mr. Kaczmarek said he put
his hands on her after she hit and spit on him.
Mr. Thomas was arrested after
Scranton police were called to his home in the 3100 block of McCarthy Street on
Sunday around 3 a.m. Officers were met outside by his wife, Kelly Thomas, who
had a swollen face and a bloody nose, police said.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
According to the arrest
affidavit, a verbal argument became violent when Mr. Thomas put his hands
around his wife's neck and choked her. Mr. Thomas left the home but returned
about 15 minutes later, when the argument resumed. As he tried to force his wife
out of the residence, Mr. Thomas struck her in the face, police said