By Jacob Mathias

After allegedly choking a Stevens Point woman multiple times and threatening to kill her if she called the police, a former Milwaukee man faces multiple felonies and over 25 years behind bars.

Police were called to the 3400 block of Jefferson Ave. on Sept. 6 after a woman there reported a physical altercation between herself and the defendant, 46-year-old Tommie Lee.

According to the criminal complaint, the incident occurred three days before the woman called police.

Lee reportedly began drinking early in the morning of Sept. 3, according to the complaint, and later became angry with the woman because she was talking on the phone with other people.

During the argument, he allegedly grabbed the woman by the neck, lifting her off the floor and constricting her airway. According to the complaint, the woman said she felt as if she had almost lost consciousness.

The woman said she got away and went into the bathroom, at which point Lee allegedly threatened he would, “stick [her] head into the toilet and nobody will find [her] for a couple of days.”

Lee then choked the woman again, according to the complaint, and pushed his middle knuckle into the woman’s chest hard enough to leave a bruise, which police could still see three days later.

Police also noted visible bruising and scratches on the woman’s neck consistent with her allegations of Lee’s behavior.

Lee told the woman her would kill her if she called the police, according to the complaint. He also claims to have fired a gun at police in Milwaukee, but did not say when.

The woman said Lee had moved in with her two months before, having moved from Milwaukee.

Lee made his initial appearance in Portage County Circuit Court on Sept. 12 for charges of strangulation and suffocation, a felony for which he could see up to a $10,000 fine, six years imprisonment or both if convicted.

He is also charged with felony intimidation of a victim. which comes with a possible $25,000 fine, 10 years imprisonment or both.

A final charge, misdemeanor battery, carries a maximum sentence of a $10,000 fine, nine months imprisonment or both. Lee is a repeat offender and could see additional time added to any sentence if convicted.

Lee is being held in jail on a $5,000 cash bond. If he posts bond he is to maintain absolute sobriety and is to make no contact with the woman he allegedly strangled.

He returns to court on Sept. 19 at 1:30 PM for an adjourned initial appearance so he may seek an attorney.