DETROIT (WWJ) A Detroit business owner has been arraigned on charges of assaulting a woman who was shopping at his convenience store.
Wayne County prosecutors have charged Bassam Yatooma, 50, of West Bloomfield on one count of Assault with Intent to do Great Bodily Harm Less than Murder or by Strangulation, a 10-year felony, and one count of Aggravated Assault, a one-year misdemeanor.
Prosecutors said Andrea Warren, 47, of Detroit walked into Yatooma's store on Puritan (15,000 block) near Hubbell on March 12 to buy a drink.
"Yatooma did not want her in the store," a Wayne County Prosecutor's press release read. "He walked over to Ms. Warren, grabbed her, dragged her across the floor of the store, punched her on the right side of her face, and placed his hands around her neck, strangling her."
A witness said Warren's eye was red and swollen. Medics at the scene said she was bleeding from the nose. She was diagnosed with a fractured nose at the hospital.
"The facts in this case are very unsettling. The alleged actions taken by this defendant are really beyond comprehension when the totality of the circumstances are examined," said Prosecutor Kym Worthy.
Yatooma was given a $50,000/10% bond with a GPS tether. He also must surrender his passport and have no contact with the 'complaining witness'. He is due back in court on June 21.
