Philadelphia news anchor Dray Clark was arrested Friday and charged with domestic violence-related charges after getting into an incident with his girlfriend.
The NBC 10 reporter was charged with 16 crimes including simple assault, making terroristic threats, harassment and theft, his network reported.
Clark allegedly had a heated argument with his girlfriend outside his apartment on Thursday night that escalated into physical violence. He struck her several times, put his hands around her throat and choked her, according to a police report.
The violence continued inside the house, where the woman’s son was said to be. Clark also choked her then.
The woman, Aigner Cleveland, identified herself with a public Facebook post giving her own side of the story. The post included photos of her bruised face, and the police report stating that the first domestic incident between herself and Clark occurred the week before while they were in Wilmington, Del.
Clark was also arrested there.
“Disclaimer: everyone who knows me, knows that I am an extremely private person. But I hope what I am about to share helps someone who is questioning whether or not they should stay with an abusive spouse,” Cleveland, who is the press secretary for the Chester mayor, wrote.
She alleged that Clark had assaulted on other occasions that were not reported to police.
“I should’ve left when he hit me the first time in February. I vaguely remember the second time. The third time I remember hysterically crying and my nose bleeding. The fourth time, I was left with a black eye, chipped tooth, and a busted jaw. I never hit him back. And I stayed. I justified it. He was arrested (9/21/19) and I still contemplated trying to work it out,” she wrote on Facebook.
“The fifth and last time, (last night, 9/26/19) he choked me. I finally hit him back but he then shoved me so hard that I have bruises all over my body. My son was around,” she wrote.
Clark was arraigned Friday afternoon and his bail was set at $20,000, the Inquirer reports.
NBC 10 put out a statement soo after: “Station management learned today that Dray Clark was arrested on both domestic violence related cases. We take these allegations very seriously. Effective immediately, Dray will be off the air pending the station’s investigation.”