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State Rep: Joseph Brennan allegedly choked and punched his wife on the porch of their Fountain Hill home on Wednesday afternoon and then drove away drunk
A Pennsylvania state lawmaker faces assault and other charges after police say he punched and choked his wife, then drove away drunk.

Democratic state Rep Joseph Brennan, 48, was arrested on Wednesday following a 911 call about a man hitting a woman outside their home in Fountain Hill, Lehigh County.

Norma Jane Brennan told officers her husband had choked, punched and wrestled her to the ground.

According to the police affidavit, Mrs Brennan had visible injuries to her left hand, knuckles, both feet and her left knee.

Joseph Brennan was pulled over a few blocks away, where police say a breath test found he had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit for drivers.

Brennan was arraigned and released on $7,500 bail.

He was charged with assault, harassment and drunken driving and was told to have no contact with his wife while he is out on bail.

The 48-year-old was arrested last year for a DUI and said afterwards he was experiencing a 'long and personal struggle with alcohol'.

According to The Morning Call, Brennan was arrested in June 2011 in Bethlehem and charged with drunken driving, careless driving and public drunkenness.

He was four times over the limit at that time and avoided a criminal record by being accepted into the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program.

A message left with his office early on Thursday wasn't immediately returned.