A Lackawanna County sheriff’s deputy clenched his fist, punched his girlfriend 20 times and choked her with her shirt as she drove a car Sunday night, Scranton police charged Monday.
Jerome A. Passariello, 37, 1306 Academy St., Scranton, has been placed on administrative leave pending a due process hearing next Wednesday, Sheriff Mark McAndrew said.
Passariello is charged with aggravated assault and strangulation, two felonies, and misdemeanor counts of simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, terroristic threats and harassment, Patrolman Michael Marino wrote in a criminal complaint.
McAndrew declined to say if Passariello, a deputy sheriff for 11 years, had to surrender his duty weapon, citing personnel concerns. Passariello, who made $22.53 an hour in 2016, has been taken off the schedule, the sheriff said.
Passariello’s girlfriend, Jessica Romanecz, ran into Passariello’s ex-girlfriend, Crystal Matos, in the bathroom of a Green Ridge Street restaurant during a benefit for a fellow sheriff’s deputy and they had a conversation. Matos said she knows they cannot be friends but hopes to avoid animosity.
In August 2014, Matos snuck into Passariello’s home as he slept next to Romanecz and dragged Romanecz out of bed by her hair, police had charged at the time. Matos pleaded guilty to simple assault a year later and received a sentence of two years of probation.
Romanecz and Matos do not talk, but Romanecz told police their conversation Sunday was not heated.
Passariello learned Romanecz spoke with Matos and became angry.
Eventually, Passariello and Romanecz left the benefit together and Passariello began beating Romanecz as she drove. The assault lasted from Green Ridge Street to the 400 block of Wyoming Avenue when Romanecz, covered in blood, managed to jump out of her vehicle and get help from a state constable, Eric Bower.
Bower kept Passariello away from Romanecz until police arrived around 10:20 p.m.
Marino noted that the interior of Romanecz’s vehicle was destroyed. The rear view mirror had been torn off, smashed and bloodied. Blood and clumps of blonde hair littered the vehicle.
Magisterial District Judge Joanne Price Corbett arraigned Passariello at 5:10 a.m. on Monday and sent him to Lackawanna County Prison on $100,000 bail. Passariello posted bail with a surety bond.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 16 at 11:15 a.m.
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