WOODBURY — A Newtonville man was found guilty Thursday of choking his girlfriend in her Woodbury apartment and firing gunshots into the ceiling on Feb. 17, 2013.
Donald D. Segar, 22, also was convicted of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon — which carries a mandatory five-year prison sentence, authorities said.
The incidents reportedly occurred in the victim’s Bell Lake Apartments residence, in the presence of her 1-year-old daughter, said authorities.
Segar’s lawyer, Bridget Green, argued that the incidents never happened and that the girlfriend and her parents concocted the accusations to get Segar out of the woman’s life. Senior Assistant Gloucester County Prosecutor Paul Colangelo insisted Woodbury police had eyewitness statements the crimes happened, authorities said.
The victim was with Segar in a Runnemede motel room when he was arrested 11 days after the incident, but that “doesn’t mean the event never happened,” Colangelo said. She had told a detective that Segar had threatened her life and fired the gun, said authorities.