A York Haven man is facing a felony aggravated assault charge after police say he held a pistol to his wife's face, pushed the barrel into her mouth, and struck her in the head with the weapon during a domestic dispute at their Cly Road home. Joseph Paul Carotenuto, 36, was arrested without incident on May 17 after his wife fled the house and called police, who observed clear injuries on her when they arrived.
Argument Escalated After a Day Out Together
According to FOX43, the domestic situation began after the couple returned home from a day out together, and a verbal argument between them turned physical. Police say Carotenuto ripped food out of his wife's hands before leaving the room and returning with a pistol, which he then held up to her face. York County communications had dispatched a call for a domestic situation with a request for emergency medical services, according to the same report.
Investigators say Carotenuto yelled at his wife to open her mouth and then pushed the pistol into her lips. The station's report states the victim feared he would pull the trigger if she opened her mouth. Carotenuto then reportedly walked off to the living room, but the assault did not end there — he later threw his wife to the ground and struck her head with the gun before stopping.
Wife Fled and Called Police
The victim fled the house and notified police herself, per the same account. When Newberry Township officers arrived, they observed clear injuries to Carotenuto's wife and recovered a .9mm pistol tucked in the center console of the living room couch. Carotenuto was taken into custody without incident.
He now faces charges of aggravated assault with attempts to cause serious bodily injury with a deadly weapon, terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another, simple assault, and recklessly endangering another person, the outlet reports. Under Section 2702 of Title 18 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charged as a second-degree felony carries a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine upon conviction, according to Ketchel Law. The terroristic threats charge, graded as a first-degree misdemeanor under Section 2706, carries its own exposure of up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, per the Zuckerman Law Firm.
Officers Had Authority to Arrest Without a Warrant
Under Section 2711 of Title 18, police officers have statutory authority to make warrantless arrests in domestic violence cases involving assault when they observe recent physical injury or other corroborative evidence at the scene, according to Pennsylvania legislative records. That provision appears to explain why officers were able to take Carotenuto into custody the same day, rather than waiting on a warrant. Records published on CRIMEWATCH list the incident under official reference ID 32-26-04387 at a residence in the 1300 block of Cly Road.
CRIMEWATCH records also show Carotenuto was previously arrested in the same neighborhood in August 2021, when he was charged with two misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence following an investigation at Cly Road and York Haven Road. It is not clear from available records whether Carotenuto's current bail status includes residential restrictions or a no-contact order, or whether a civil Protection From Abuse order has been filed in the case. Pennsylvania criminal procedures updated under Act 14 of 2018 require issuing authorities evaluating bail for domestic violence defendants to weigh potential danger to the victim and allow them to impose such conditions as part of release.
Local Resources for Domestic Violence Survivors
The Newberry Township Police Department, based at 1905 Old Trail Road in Etters, employs roughly 16 officers serving a population of more than 14,000 across the township and surrounding boroughs, according to Discover Policing. York County's sole comprehensive provider of domestic violence services, ACCESS-York, offers a free 24-hour crisis hotline, emergency shelter, and legal advocacy through YWCA York at 717-846-5400, according to YWCA York. The organization notes that more than 10 million people in the United States experience physical abuse from an intimate partner every year.
Separately from any criminal case, Pennsylvania's Protection From Abuse Act allows victims of domestic abuse to file for civil PFA orders that can require an alleged abuser to leave a shared residence and surrender firearms, regardless of how the criminal charges are resolved, according to PALawHELP.org. Newberry Township has drawn scrutiny from local law enforcement before; Hoodline previously reported on a separate child torture case investigated by the same department earlier this year.
