The Fergus Falls Daily Journal

A Rothsay man has been charged in Otter Tail County court after allegedly strangling his pregnant fiancée and throwing her child to the ground.

Nicolas Robert Leitch, 29, was charged last week with one count of domestic assault by strangulation, one count of child endangerment, and two counts of misdemeanor domestic assault.

Court records report that Leitch’s live-in fiancée called law enforcement shortly after midnight on Aug. 3 to report that Leitch assaulted her. She claimed that earlier that night, on Aug. 2, they were at their Rothsay home and Leitch had just finished drinking a bottle of alcohol. She wanted to go to bed, but he allegedly wanted to buy some marijuana, and the woman said they began to argue.

She eventually took her young child, placed him into a car seat and attempted to leave the residence, according to the report. As she did, however, Leitch allegedly threw the car seat into the yard with the child still in it.

He then allegedly pushed her to the ground and began kicking her and dragging her around by her feet. During his assault, the woman said, he also choked her multiple times. Eventually, she was able to drive away with her child, but not before Leitch allegedly punched her windshield, cracking it.

Upon arrival, law enforcement found markings on her body consistent with her account of the assault, according to the report. The woman allegedly told the officers that she was five months pregnant with Leitch’s child. She added that she is afraid of him because he drinks daily.