Corbin man charged with strangling girlfriend Thursday

A Corbin man was arrested Thursday for allegedly strangling his girlfriend to the point that she puked and urinated on herself.

James A. Coppage, 26, was charged with first-degree strangulation following an investigation into a complaint from the woman.

Officer Robbie Hodge wrote in the arrest citation that the woman came to the police department at approximately 10 a.m. Thursday to report the incident.

Hodge said the woman told police that Coppage, whom she identified as her live-in boyfriend, had been in an argument at about 1 a.m. when he drug her through the house and into the back bedroom and asked her for oral sex.

“She reported that when she refused, he put his hands around her neck and choked her until she puked and urinated on herself,” Hodge wrote in the arrest citation noting that when officers returned to the apartment, the puke was still in the floor and there was a wet spot on the bed nearby.

“She reported that she had sexual intercourse with him because she was afraid that he would hurt her,” Hodge wrote noting that she said they both fell asleep afterward.

The woman told officers that when she woke up, Coppage was still asleep and she was able to flee the scene and get to the police department.

Coppage was taken into custody on Laurel Ave. just before noon and lodged in the Whitley County Detention Center.

Under Kentucky law, fire-degree strangulation is a Class C felony carrying a potential prison sentence of five to 10 years.