A 22-year-old Lower Saucon Township man with a criminal record was sentenced to one-and-a-half to three years in state prison by Northampton County Judge Stephen Baratta Friday, according to published reports, after previously admitting to charges of escape and simple assault following an altercation last Nov. 12 in the 1600 block of Main Street, Hellertown, in which he kicked his girlfriend, kicked a borough police officer in the groin and ran away while barefoot and handcuffed.
James S. Cruciani Jr. cried and the girlfriend he assaulted pleaded for him to receive probation because she said she needs his help to care for their two children, Lehigh Valley Live reported.
She said the fight that led to the assault was over a lack of alcohol in the house, but Cruciani told a probation officer it was because he wanted sex, the website reported.
A Morning Call article indicated that Cruciani has prior convictions for domestic disputes with his girlfriend and the mother of his children, Cassandra Butryn-Green, and has suffered from drug, alcohol and mental health problems, according to Baratta.
Baratta recommended Cruciani receive treatment for mental health, as well as substance abuse while in state prison, the Morning Call also reported.
The Allentown newspaper reported that the Hellertown police officer Cruciani assaulted was Christopher Pfancook, while Lehigh Valley Live reported that it was Ofc. John Donato.
Both media outlets indicated that he will have to pay for the officer’s $234 workers’ compensation claim, as well as $40 to replace the pair of handcuffs he was wearing when he escaped; handcuffs that were cut off while he was on the lam by an unidentified friend.
