York City Police officer arrested for alleged domestic assault, police say

(Undated) — The City of York has relieved one of its police officers of duty with pay following his arrest Sunday afternoon at his North Codorus Township home for an alleged domestic-related assault, according to a news release.  

Ritchie Page Blymier, 48, of the 3800 block of Old Joseph Road, was taken to Central Booking and charged with simple assault and harassment. He was released on $5,000 unsecured bail, according to online dockets.

Blymier has a preliminary hearing before District Judge Thomas J. Reilly on June 4. The officer answered his cellphone Monday morning, asked what the call was about, but hung up once he was told of the city’s news release.

The city’s news release added that Blymier’s status with the department will remain “until further notice pending the results of an internal affairs investigation.”

According to charging documents, about 12:20 p.m. on Sunday, Southwestern Regional Police responded to Blymier’s home for an alleged domestic assault report. The victim was identified as Blymier’s wife, Brenda Blymier, documents state.

Once there, police met with Brenda Blymier and saw that she had scratches and red marks on both sides of her neck and chest, in addition to scratches, redness and swelling on her right wrist, documents state.

She said she and her husband had been arguing — documents did not state what it was about — and during the argument, she took his cellphone and placed it in her bra.

“Ritchie became upset and attempted to retrieve the phone by pushing Brenda onto a bed,” documents state. “Brenda stated that Ritchie then got on top of her, using his knee on her stomach and grabbing her wrists to hold her down. Brenda then advised that Ritchie placed his hands on her chest and throat while grabbing at her chest to get the phone.” 

Blymier, a longtime officer with the department, received police commissioner’s commendations in 2004 and 2008. Also in 2008, he developed the department’s anti-DUI initiative, enlisting the help of local college students, businesses and those affected by the crime.

 

Protective order

A protection-from-abuse petition provides additional details on the dispute and alleged assault.

Brenda Blymier received an emergency protective order on Sunday.

On Monday, she applied for another protective order, one that would last until a full hearing can take place.

She wrote that she filed for divorce on May 1, “and ever since, things have been escalating.”

“Ritchie is very controlling, he is an officer, has access to weapons and has about 8 cameras inside and outside of our home watching everything we do,” she wrote.

Phones were a key part of Sunday’s dispute in her description.

She wrote that her phone had not been working for about a month, and everything is under his name, so she hasn’t been able to make any changes or communicate properly.

On Sunday, she asked him for a WiFi password, but he wouldn’t give it to her, she wrote.

“I decided to take his cellphone and told him he would get it back when he gave me the wifi password,” she wrote.

She also took the SIM card out, which she said made him angry. That’s when he physically abused her, she said in her petition.

She went to an urgent care facility, and X-rays showed that her right wrist and right shoulder were sprained, she wrote.

“After yesterday, I am scared,” she wrote.

She asked the judge to order Ritchie Blymier to relinquish guns, other weapons or ammunition. The list of the specific items she asked for him to relinquish is not a public record.

York County Court of Common Pleas Judge Kathleen J. Prendergast approved a temporary protective order on Monday. The order says Ritchie Blymier may not post about his wife online, and he may not use any kind of electronic or video surveillance to track her.

A  hearing for a final protective order is scheduled for May 31.

This story comes to us through a partnership between WITF and The York Daily Record.