Inset: Khabir Smith (East Landsdowne Police Department). Background: An Exxon where Smith allegedly attacked his girlfriend in East Landsdowne, Pa. (Google Maps).
A Pennsylvania man behind bars only made matters worse for himself by calling the victim in an underlying assault case some 242 times from jail in violation of a court order, Keystone State authorities say.
Khabir Smith, 25, now has his bail increased to 10% of $100,000, according to Delaware County prosecutor Amy Cappelli.
The defendant was arrested in April on charges of simple assault, attempted kidnapping, unlawful restraint, and reckless endangerment, the East Landsdowne Police Department said in a press release.
Smith now additionally stands accused of one count each of disorderly conduct and harassment, according to law enforcement.
The underlying incident occurred late in the morning inside and outside an Exxon station on Baltimore Avenue in East Landsdowne, a small borough in the Philadelphia metro area.
Officers responded to a call from a woman who claimed that her boyfriend had repeatedly attacked her, police said.
When police arrived, Smith was still at the scene and detained. Then, investigators reviewed surveillance footage.
On the gas station's security video, the woman is seen standing at the checkout counter when Smith enters and "immediately" begins "assaulting her on the head, face [and] body," police said.
"The female fled the store and was again assaulted," the press release continues, still describing the alleged video evidence. "[A]t one point the female broke free and was chased down."
After Smith caught hold of the woman outside, he "dragged her across the parking lot" and forced her inside his vehicle, police said.
The woman is then seen in the video getting out of Smith's vehicle and trying to "find refuge in a stranger's vehicle" when the defendant chases her down again, pulls her out of the second vehicle and puts her back inside his own vehicle, according to law enforcement.
Police arrived shortly after and Smith was eventually arrested.
The defendant was initially able to post bail for the assault case but was arrested again in July on unrelated weapons and theft charges, according to law enforcement. That's when he allegedly made the slew of phone calls to the woman from the earlier case, according to a courtroom report by the Delaware County Daily Times.
During a recent bail hearing, the prosecutor moved to revoke bail in the original assault and kidnapping case.
Cappelli told a judge she was reviewing case materials last week when she noticed Smith had called the woman 242 times on a recorded jailhouse phone line since April, in violation of a no-contact order.
In one such recorded call, the defendant allegedly threatened the woman against testifying against him, while at the same time telling her to collect money from people who owe him.
Smith allegedly told the woman that if he makes bail before the debts are paid, "they're going to find out what he's about."
The prosecutor said she did not check whether the defendant made non-phone contact, citing the sheer volume of calls.
The defendant's attorney, for his part, told the judge Smith had not contacted the woman recently and already could not afford the current amount. The defense attorney said the state brought the issue to his attention and he told the defendant to stop calling.
Ultimately, the judge agreed to the defense's request for a bail increase in place of a bail revocation. Now, the defendant would have to post $20,000 to be released from pretrial detention due to the phone call allegation and an additional $10,000 bail assessed for the July gun and theft case.
The judge also told the defendant's attorney that Smith must not have any contact with the victim whatsoever as the case progresses.
Smith is next slated to appear in court on Sept. 22.
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