A Mount Airy man was arrested Tuesday after he allegedly spanked a 5-year-old boy causing significant bruising. Zachary Luis Garber, 27, of the block of Braddock Road, was charged with one count each of second-degree assault and second-degree child abuse.
According to the statement of charges, Westminster police responded to a residence on April 30 after it was reported that a 5-year-old had significant bruising due to being spanked. Two witness who had stayed in the same residence the night before told police they had heard Garber yelling and the sound of physical hitting at several points during the night. The next morning, they observed bruising on the boy, according to the statement. A Westminster police detective observed and photographed the bruising on April Upon speaking to the boy, he said that Garber was the one who had spanked him, according to the statement.
The detective interviewed Garber, who said the boy had been fighting sleep and refusing to go to bed, but he had not spanked him repeatedly skin to skin as was alleged. A call to the number listed for Garber resulted in notice that it had been changed, disconnected or was no longer in service.
A preliminary hearing was deferred on Tuesday, June 26, according to electronic court records. By Catalina Righter. More in News.
