HOUSTON — A Houston therapist faced a judge on Monday after he was arrested and charged with attacking a patient he was dating.
Thaddeus Tolbert, 31, is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and burglary.
Court documents paint a disturbing picture of what the patient said happened on April 29.
The woman told police that Tolbert tried to strangle her four times after she went to his office to end their brief relationship.
She said Tolbert became enraged and pulled out a gun and then pinned her against a wall while screaming that she couldn't leave him. The woman said someone knocked on the door so he let her go and she left.
The woman said she picked up her daughter from school and when she got to her apartment, Tolbert was waiting for her.
She entered her apartment through the front door and went out the back door to take her daughter to a neighbor's. The woman said she forgot to lock the front door and Tolbert came inside and refused to leave.
The woman told police that Tolbert started choking her and kissing her while "telling her that he loved her and that they would die before he let her walk away from him."
She said Tolbert is 6 feet 5 inches tall and weighs about 350 pounds so she couldn't get away. She said he let her go and left when people started honking outside because Tolbert's vehicle was blocking the apartment complex driveway.
The woman said she texted Tolbert and threatened to tell his wife what happened and he came back about half an hour later and pushed his way back inside.
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According to court documents, Tolbert ordered her to delete everything on her two phones. The woman said they were fighting over a phone when he pushed her onto the couch and started choking her. She said "Everything became hot" and she saw red and blue spots while gasping for air.
He let her go when her daughter started screaming, court documents say. The woman told police that she ran to lock the girl in her bedroom and Tolbert grabbed her again and pulled out his gun. He told her, "I'll kill us both" and then hit her in the face with the gun, according to the woman.
Court documents say the woman called her cousin and put him on speaker and he could hear Tolbert yelling, "I'm going to kill you ... I'll kill us both ... Why are you doing this?" and, "I love you too much."
Tolbert left and the woman went to the police two days later. According to court documents, she had a black eye and bruising on both triceps. She told the detective that she was terrified when Tolbert tried to strangle her four different times. She said she felt dizzy, her eyes were blurry and her head was throbbing as he "crushed" her throat. She then became nauseated and began dry heaving.
Investigators said the woman's cousin and neighbors later confirmed her version of what happened.
According to court documents, Tolbert admitted he went to the woman's apartment twice that day but denied there was a physical altercation.
His attorney also denied the woman's claim that she ended the relationship when she found out that Tolbert is married. The attorney said Tolbert has been divorced for two years.