Jun 21, 2013 2 min read

A Long Branch man was arrested by California police early Friday after he allegedly choked a woman and then fired a shot at her when she went to retrieve her belongings.

James Beeman, 56, of 255 Short St., is accused of assaulting 47-year-old Laurie Scribben at his home.

California police were called about 3:20 a.m. to his home for a report of a discharge of a firearm by Beeman that allegedly had been directed at Scribben.

Beeman, who was standing on the front porch, was taken into custody.

Scribben told police the two had gotten into an argument in her vehicle on Mt. Tabor Road. The confrontation turned physical and he grabbed her by the throat, she said. He then fled on foot to his home.

Scribben returned to Beeman’s home to retrieve her cellphone, police said. When she tried to enter the back door of the home, Beeman allegedly fired a shot from a revolver at her from the back porch while Scribben was five feet away from him. Two neighbors also heard the shots.

Beeman told police he fired Scribben’s .357-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver into the ground from his porch. He told police she keeps the gun in a drawer upstairs in the house. Police said they found the gun under a nightstand. Beeman claimed he did not physically harm Scribben.

Assisting at the scene were police from Charleroi and California University of Pennsylvania.

Beeman was arraigned before District Judge Joshua Kanalis on charges of reckless endangerment, simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct. He was placed in the Washington County jail on $50,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is set for July 1 before Kanalis.