Man charged with hitting pregnant girlfriend

A Cedarhurst man was arrested early Monday and charged with assaulting his pregnant girlfriend, who jumped from a moving vehicle to escape him, Nassau Police said.

William Sease, 31, got into an argument with his girlfriend, who is six months pregnant, at their Fifth Avenue apartment and began pushing her and punching her in the face, causing heavy bleeding, according to Fourth Squad detectives.

The woman fled to her vehicle with Sease following her, police said. She thought he was going to take her to the hospital but once inside the vehicle, he began arguing with her again and threatened her. Fearing for her safety, she jumped out of the moving vehicle. While she was lying on the street screaming for help, an off-duty police officer saw her and left his vehicle to help. The woman was transported to South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside where she was treated for multiple fractures to her nose and a fractured heel.

Sease was arrested at 4:45 a.m. and charged with second-degree assault, first-degree reckless endangerment, third-degree tampering with a witness and first-degree coercion. He was scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Hempstead Tuesday.