Ed Lewis
The Times-Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.)
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — City police allege an inmate at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility harassed a woman with jailhouse phone calls urging her to drop assault charges.
Matthew Adam Gyle, 39, has been jailed since his arrest Jan. 15 on allegations he abused and sexually assaulted a woman inside his residence at 121 Conyngham Ave. in Wilkes-Barre.
Since his arrest, the woman claimed she has received more than 100 calls from Gyle wanting her to drop the charges. She told police she has been using Gyle’s vehicle and if she didn’t drop the charges, Gyle threatened to report his vehicle stolen, according to court records.
While police were interviewing the woman, Gyle allegedly called her.
She placed the call on speaker, allowing an officer to hear the conversation.
The woman brought up the topic that Gyle gave her permission to use his vehicle. Gyle acknowledged the woman could use the vehicle but did not deny he would report his car stolen if she did not drop the charges against him, court records say.
Police said the woman reported Gyle has left voice mails and also has his family making calls to her. She called the jail to block Gyle from calling her.
Gyle was charged Jan. 15 with two counts of simple assault and one count each of aggravated indecent assault, false imprisonment, unlawful restraint and terroristic threats. He has been jailed for lack of $20,000 bail.
Those charges relate to allegations by the woman who claimed Gyle on Jan. 12 woke her up, called her names and blamed her for having sexual encounters with other people. When she tried to leave, she told police Gyle grabbed an ice pick and told her she wasn’t going to get out alive.
She told police Gyle forced her to remove her clothes, and sexually assaulted her twice.
The woman later convinced Gyle to take a shower together. After the shower, she was able to escape running out of the house naked, wrapping a rug around her body before she ran into a stranger on Laurel Street.
When Gyle was arraigned Jan. 16, he told the district judge the woman would not testify against him.
In another case, state police charged Gyle on Nov. 21 with punching the same woman several times in the head while they were driving on Route 29 in Plymouth Township. Assault charges were dismissed when the woman opted not to testify.
Gyle was arraigned by District Judge Thomas Malloy on charges of intimidation of a witness or victim and harassment. He was remanded to the county lockup for lack of $40,000 total bail.
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©2019 The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.)