The Daily Item, Sunbury, PA

October 7, 2009

Police: Husband choked wife, tried to start fire


McCLURE — A 43-year-old McClure man was arrested Monday after he allegedly attempted to set a fire in a bedroom of his home and choked and punched his wife.

Matthew Alan Knepp, of 12 E. Walker St., had tried to start the fire in the back bedroom following an altercation with his wife, Jamie Knepp, according to a criminal complaint.

His wife said Knepp was intoxicated when they began arguing about a lack of money to pay bills. He became violent, she told police, and he struck her in the stomach and choked her. She said he threw her to the ground when she attempted to call 911, police said.

The couple’s 5-year-old daughter was in the house at the time.

While searching the home, police said they found roach clips and other drug paraphernalia, including High Times magazines, a marijuana pipe, rolling papers and a grinder used to grind marijuana.

Knepp is being held in the Snyder County Jail, near Selinsgrove, on $10,000 bail.