Gastonia, N.C. - December 7, 2022: Officers from the Gastonia Police Department (GPD) have charged Robert Louis Singletary, age 24, of Gastonia for assaulting his 21-year-old girlfriend with a mini-sledgehammer. After the assault, Singletary kept the victim inside his apartment and did not allow her to leave for over two hours.
At approximately 9:30 a.m. on December 2, GPD officers responded to a local hospital after a victim of an assault called 9-1-1 to report the incident.
During the investigation, the victim told officers that she was at Singletary’s apartment on Armstrong Park Road a few hours earlier and that he struck her in the back of the head with a mini sledgehammer. The victim said that after being struck, she immediately felt dizzy and disoriented and that she was bleeding profusely from the back of her head. The victim further stated that Singletary told her that she could not leave until she had cleaned up all the evidence from the assault. The victim complied with the Singletary’s demands and he allowed her to leave the apartment approximately two hours after the assault occurred.
After leaving Singletary’s apartment, the victim immediately drove to the hospital and called 9-1-1 to report the assault.
GPD officers obtained an arrest warrant for Singletary charging him with Assault with intent to inflict serious injury, kidnapping, and communicating threats.
Singletary was arrested at his apartment later that afternoon. During the arrest, officers located evidence from the assault including finding the mini-sledgehammer that is believed to have been used to assault the victim.
Singletary is being held on a $250,000 secured bond.
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Robert Louis Singletary
