Man Arrested After He Brings Wife To The Fair With A Dog Leash Around Her Neck, Police Say

A Pennsylvania man is being accused of assault after he allegedly brought his wife, who he says has dementia, to The York Fair on a red nylon dog leash.

Walter William Wolford Sr., 66, was arrested after a witness saw Wolford yank the leash around his wife's neck "causing her head to move backwards and for her to sustain red marks around her throat area," charging documents said.

Wolford told West Manchester Township Police he had used the leash, which he said was initially around her waist, so that his wife, Catherine Wolford, wouldn't get lost. He said he had brought her to the fair last year and she had wandered off and wasn't found for about an hour and a half when she was leaving one of the gates, according to the York Daily Record.

Police on the scene said Wolford's wife was "very disoriented" and didn't know where she was or her name. She also spoke in "gibberish."

Wolford had told police that five years ago doctors had given his wife two years to live and she was now in a very advanced state of dementia.

After police were called to the fair, the officer who arrived on the scene reported that Wolford was agitated and embarrassed about the situation, the York Dispatch reports.

Police also spoke with the man's son, who was also at the fair, who told police he didn't think his father was abusive to his mother.

The son then took his mother home and police took Wolford to jail on a simple assault charge. According to the York Dispatch, Wolford was released on $5,000 unsecured bail.

[Photo: West Manchester Township Police]