A Carbon County man who threatened to kill his wife in front of his child was sentenced to a county jail term on Tuesday.

Thomas Joseph Willis, 36, of Summit Hill, was sentenced by Judge Steven R. Serfass to serve three to one day less 24 months in prison on a charge of simple assault. On a charge of resisting arrest he was sentenced to the same term, concurrent with the assault count. Willis previously pleaded to the two charges.

In exchange for the plea, the district attorney’s office dropped felony counts of aggravated assault and strangulation and a misdemeanor count of terroristic threats.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Summit Hill officer Todd Woodward:

At 1:14 p.m. Oct. 30, 2019, Woodward was dispatched for a domestic assault in the 300 block of East Fell Street. A teen called 911 and said Thomas Willis, 36, was threatening to kill her mom and was knocking her down.

Woodward responded and was let inside the home by the caller, who said Willis was upstairs. Woodward could hear him yelling. Willis saw Woodward at the bottom of the stairs, and walked out to the front of the home with Woodward.

Willis refused to comply with verbal commands, and while Woodward attempted to handcuff him, Willis swung his right arm toward Woodward’s head in an attempt to strike him. Willis then picked up a flower pot filled with soil from the porch ledge and threw it at Woodward’s head, then ran. After several warnings to stop, Woodward deployed his Taser, but the contact was unsuccessful.

Willis ran into a wooded area and was unable to be located.

The victim said that Willis told her, “You’re going to get hurt bad,” threatened to kill her, grabbed her face, poked her in the face multiple times with his fingers, choked her neck with his hands, and dragged her to the floor.

While Willis was choking the victim, she stated she began to lose consciousness. Willis was later located and taken into custody.

Willis told Serfass on the night of the incident he heard “six different voices.” He said he has sought help for mental health issues and is currently on medication.

Serfass rejected a probation sentence, saying after looking at Willis’ history, mental health issues and his actions with the police officer, a jail term was warranted.

Serfass also ordered Willis to get both drug and alcohol and mental health evaluations, render 100 hours of community service when paroled, pay court costs of about $1,000 and pay a $50 per month supervision fee while on parole.

He was given credit for 15 days spent in jail on the charges.

He will begin the jail term at 9 a.m. on Oct. 30 and serve it straight. He was granted work-release privileges.