Stepfather charged in alleged attack on teen

Berwick, Pa. — A Berwick man grabbed his pregnant stepdaughter by the hair and pulled her down the steps during an argument, police say.

Chad Rowe, 38, admitted there had been a fight at their home in the 100 block of Iron Street, but denied pulling the teen down the stairs by her hair, according to Berwick Det. Greg Martin. But three people in the house, including the victim, her mother, and another witness, reportedly all told Martin that Rowe had yanked the girl down 5-6 steps.

Martin was called to the house on June 23 for a reported fight between a father and daughter. While en route, Martin was told by dispatchers they were sending an ambulance for 16-year-old girl, who was pregnant and complaining of pain and cramping in her stomach, arrest papers say.

When Martin arrived, the girl's mother said the fight started as a verbal argument between her husband and her daughter, which escalated when Rowe allegedly threw a plastic cup at the girl while she was on the stairs. The girl then began assaulting Rowe, which is when he grabbed her hair and pulled on it, causing her to fall down the steps, charges say. The girl and a witness gave the same account, according to Martin.

Rowe told the same story, but omitted the part about pulling the teen down the steps by her hair. He was charged with assault. Martin also charged the teen, since she was an aggressor in the attack, he said.

Rowe docket sheet