Elkhart Man Faces Strangulation Charge
Staff Report
WARSAW — An Elkhart man is facing strangulation and battery charges after he allegedly choked a woman.
Christopher Lee Lewallen, 42, 216 N. Second St., Elkhart, is facing one count of strangulation, a Level 6 felony; and one count of battery (moderate bodily injury), a Level 6 felony.
According to a probable cause affidavit, at approximately 4:10 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 26, a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to East Riverside Drive, Warsaw, regarding an unwanted subject.
The woman who called said she was hiding in an outside room, and the subject, Lewallen, was outside. Another KSCO deputy came to assist the first deputy.
When the first deputy arrived, they spoke with the woman who said Lewallen was in a small shack outside the home. Deputies located him.
The first deputy asked what happened, and Lewallen said he and the woman had been arguing about relationship issues.
The deputy then spoke with the woman who said she had been out with her broken-down van. She called someone to fix her vehicle, and Lewallen became upset that she was speaking to another man.
The woman said Lewallen got into her face, yelling at her. He grabbed her by the neck, squeezing and impeding her breathing. The deputy saw red marks on her neck.
The woman also said when Lewallen was in her face yelling he nipped her nose and upper lip with his teeth. She said she was able to leave, but was afraid when Lewallen showed up the home, acting aggressively. She called 911 out of fear for her life.
Lewallen was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail on Sept. 26 on a $6,000 surety and cash bond.