RFP Staff
♦ In Salisbury’s heightening crescendo of summer long violence, Phillip Matthew Cline, 34, of 410 Carpenter Circle, allegedly launched an all-out savage attack on his estranged wife in the Jaycees-Optimist ballpark parking lot on South MLK Jr. Avenue.
At Approximately 6:45 p.m. Tuesday a prearranged meeting between Cline and his estranged wife started off peacefully enough. And then suddenly a discordant note was struck about the wife cheating. An ugly note. As if seized by a white light fury, Cline drove his fist into the woman’s face and sent her careening senseless toward her vehicle.
Once inside the safety of the car, the woman watched in dazed fear as her estranged husband leaped onto the hood of car and smashed her windshield, cracking it. After a short discussion where Cline toned down briefly, the woman unlocked the car door and let Cline inside. Huge mistake. Cline allegedly grabbed her hard by the throat and attempted to strangle her. The woman, able to extricate herself briefly, fled the vehicle only to be grabbed by her hair and hammered repeatedly by Cline’s fist.
Mercifully a witness saw the one-sided melee in the parking lot and called 911. The Salisbury Police arrived within minutes and spotted Cline hightailing it through the woods near Celebration Drive. The officers soon caught up with the winded Cline and handcuffed him.
Cline was previously sought as an absconder which padded Tuesday’s charges with 2 charges of failure to appear in court and larceny (misdemeanor).
Cline was charged with assault by strangulation (felony), larceny (misdemeanor), assault on a female (misdemeanor), injury to personal property (misdemeanor), and probation violation (misdemeanor).
Under a $13,500 secured bond, Cline is in the Rowan County Detention Center and had a preliminary hearing today.
Phillip Matthew Cline’s Previous Record:
