By Shavonne Potts
shavonne.potts@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Two local men face assault charges after two separate domestic violence-related incidents that left women bruised and battered.

On Wednesday, a woman ran to her neighbor’s house to call 911 and said she had been physically assaulted beginning June 21 and had been held captive at a home on Coldwater Extension in Kannapolis, said Capt. John Sifford.

According to the woman, her boyfriend, Brandon Sullivan, 38, was high on fentanyl. She told deputies he “becomes aggressive when he takes them,” Sifford said.

The woman said he blocked the front door with the couch and tied the back door shut. Once deputies arrived, the woman had black eyes, visible marks on her arms and legs. She accused him of choking her until she was unconscious. A deputy noted the woman also had marks around her neck.

The woman tried to call 911 but he took the phone from her, according to a report. She was able to escape when he went to the back of the house. When deputies arrived, Sullivan ran away. He was apprehended at Sonic Drive-In on U.S. 29 with no shoes, out of breath and with cuts from running through a thicket.

Sullivan was charged on Wednesday with felony assault by strangulation and misdemeanor assault on a female. He wasn’t issued a bond because of the domestic violence nature of the charges and received a $5,000 secured bond for the assault by strangulation offense.

In another incident, a woman told Rowan County Sheriff’s deputies her boyfriend, Jeremy Jenkins, 38, accused her of talking to other men. She said on Thursday around 8 a.m. the two were in on Willow Oaks Drive, China Grove, when the assault occurred.

She told officers Jenkins assaulted her the night before and choked her until she blacked out. The two fell asleep; when they awoke, Jenkins allegedly began throwing belongings at her. He accused her of stealing from him. He struck her, tossed her to the ground and chased her outside, Sifford said.

Jenkins is accused of dragging the woman into nearby woods and body-slamming her to the ground, Sifford said. She was able to run back to the house, where she locked the door and called 911, Sifford said.

The woman had black eyes and marks around her neck. Deputies went to the woods to search for Jenkins. An officer called Jenkins’ phone and deputies were able to pinpoint his location in the woods.

He was taken into custody and faces felony assault by strangulation, misdemeanor assault on a female and misdemeanor resist, obstruct, delay an officer. Jenkins remains in the Rowan County Detention Center without bond for the assault and resist offenses and a $10,000 secured bond for the strangulation charge.