Woman charged with assaulting pregnant woman in York City

A York City woman is accused of hitting a pregnant woman multiple times during an argument earlier this year.

Daridels Ventura-Guzman, 24, of 460 Walnut St., is charged with aggravated assault of an unborn child and attempted aggravated assault of an unborn child, according to charging documents.

York City Police say Ventura-Guzman hit the woman after approaching her at the woman's home on March 30. According to police, a forensic nurse at York Hospital at the time said the victim might lose the child from the signs she was showing after the assault.

The incident:  About 8 p.m. on March 30, the victim and her boyfriend, the father of her child, were going back to her home on Columbia Avenue when Ventura-Guzman approached the victim in the driveway, yelling insults, documents allege.

Police allege the pregnant woman's boyfriend and Ventura-Guzman were previously in a relationship, and ever since the victim became pregnant, Ventura-Guzman had harassed her on social media about it. When the two met at the driveway, they began arguing, prompting the victim's teenage niece to come outside and see what was happening, police said.

"She told the defendant that if she started to fight with her aunt, knowing that she was pregnant, she would have to get involved," documents state.

Ventura-Guzman then "hurled" insults at the niece and proceeded to slap the victim in the face, according to documents. The victim defended herself with her niece and both were hit, police said. Additionally, police say the victim remembered being hit in the stomach and chest area.

The victim's boyfriend jumped in to break up the fight, but police say he grabbed the niece instead of Ventura-Guzman.  After that, Ventura-Guzman hit the victim in the face, according to police, and at some point was told to go to the victim's boyfriend's car, and the two drove off, documents state. They did not return.

During the assault, the victim attempted to call police but was stopped, police said. Documents do not state what stopped her from calling police.

A neighbor who was outside called 911.

The responding officer wrote in the documents that he waited a few months to allow the victim to recover and to see if any serious complications would come to the unborn child. On Monday, the victim told police she was six months pregnant but must be seen frequently by her doctor to see if she would go into labor prematurely, documents state. Charges were filed Monday.

Ventura-Guzman was arraigned on the charges Tuesday morning, according to online court records, and remains free on $5,000 unsecured bail.

— Reach Christopher Dornblaser at cdornblaser@yorkdispatch.com or on Twitter at @YDDornblaser.