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Pasco Paramedic Accused Of Strangling Girlfriend

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By LISA A. DAVIS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 9, 2008

Updated: 11/09/2008 05:26 pm

New Port Richey - A 27-year-old New Port Richey firefighter/paramedic was arrested by Pasco deputies early Saturday, accused of trying to strangle his girlfriend.

James E. McCormick and his girlfriend were arguing when he threw her around the bedroom, according to his arrest affidavit, and then grabbed her head and started choking her.

The woman thought she was going to die, according to the report, and scratched McCormick, trying to get away. The firefighter took her phone so she couldn't call for help and he wouldn't let her leave, a report states, but she finally got out of the house on Mystic Avenue and ran to a neighbor.

McCormick told deputies his girlfriend beat him up and he didn't fight back, the affidavit states.

The couple had been drinking alcohol prior to the incident, according to the report.

When the deputy arrived he noticed a red mark on the woman's throat and she complained of pain from where she said McCormick was holding her throat, the report states.

In his report Deputy Matthew Kadel wrote that the bedroom was in "disarray" and the woman's necklace was on the floor with the clasp ripped off.

McCormick was arrested on a charge of battery by strangulation. He was released from the Land O' Lakes Jail after posting $5,000 bail.

Reached by telephone on Sunday, McCormick declined to comment. City fire officials couldn't be reached for comment.

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