Disgraced New York anchorman Rob Morrison allegedly choked his fellow journalist wife so hard in a prior drunken attack last month that she nearly passed out, Connecticut cops disclosed today.
The earlier alleged attack occurred Jan. 14 in Darien, Conn. — a month before Morrison allegedly choked wife Ashley Morrison early last Sunday morning in a drunken rage in their home in that ritzy town.
And the first incident allegedly involved the strapping Morrison hurling his petite, 115-pound blonde wife to the floor of their home, and then wrapping his right arm around her neck “until she reportedly almost passed out,” according to the police report released today.
“She began hitting R. Morrison with the portable phone in the head in an attempt to get him to stop” — at which point the couple’s nanny came downstairs, the report said. Police saw bruises on Ashley’s arms from the alleged attack — which they then photographed, according to cops.
But Morrison gave cops a much different version of the incident, claiming Ashley had flown into a “rage” at him during an argument, and that she struck him with the phone after they both “fell” on the floor.
Morrison, 44, was arrested for Sunday’s attack, and for allegedly threatening to kill 40-year-old Ashley after cops took him into custody. He resigned from WCBS/Channel 2 yesterday because of the scandal, and yesterday knocked back three beers while telling The Post that the charges against him were groundless.
Morrison was not arrested for the Jan. 14 incident after his wife backtracked on her claims — telling police that she was so drunk at the time that she may have exaggerated her account of the attack, according to a police report. Ashley also “retracted” her claim that Morrison choked her.
Morrison also had admitted to being “intoxicated” during that incident, police wrote.
Police actually applied for an arrest warrant for Morrison based on Ashley’s original claims — but a prosecutor denied that request, citing his discretion not to file charges, according to Darien Police Capt. Frederick Komm.
Komm released the report today to The Post and other media outlets in response to public records requests.
Morrison’s lawyer Robert Skovgaard said, “I think it’s both unfortunate and inappropriate on the part of the Darien police that they made this report available.”
Ashley Morrison, who is anchor of the WCBS show MoneyWatch, has a long habit of claiming Morrison has attacked her, only to later try to downplay what happened, sources have told The Post.
Her mother, Martha Risk, said that Ashley is in “fear” of Morrison — and Ashley’s brother has told police that Morrison once vowed to kill their son in front of Ashley and then kill her if she ever dared leave her, according to cops.
New York City polices have records of nine calls for domestic disturbances at the couples’ former Upper West Side apartments from 2003 to 2009, and Morrison was arrested by Darien cops after a domestic disturbance in 2011. That case was later dismissed, sources said.
The Jan. 20 police report about last month’s incident contains details strikingly similar to Sunday’s domestic brawl at the Morrisons’ million-dollar home in Darien that sparked his arrest.
According to the report released today, Morrison, who is an 180-pound former Marine, called police on Jan. 20 “in regards to a domestic incident occurring between he and his wife, Ashley Morrison.”
Cops wrote that after they arrived, both Ashley and Morrison admitted they were under the influence of alcohol.
When cops arrived at the home, where the couple live with their 7-year-old son Jack, Ashley began “making statements concerning a separate incident that occurred between her and R. Morrison” on Jan. 14, the report said.
Both she and her husband “admitted to being under the influence of alcohol” during the Jan. 14 incident, the report said.
Ashley told police on Jan. 14. she was “upset about how much R. Morrison had drank while out to dinner with friends” two days earlier, and “she attempted to speak with him about the incident,” the report said.
Morrison “allegedly began video taping the conversation with his iPhone, which A. Morrison stated bothered her,” police wrote. “She explained that the conversation was personal, and she felt uncomfortable having him videotaping her.”
“When R. Morrison refused to stop, she attempted to grab the phone away from him, prompting him to throw her to the ground,” the report said.
Morrison then allegedly “kept telling her to get up and when she did, she went to grab the portable house phone to call the police,” cops wrote.
Then, Morrison “threw her into the dining room and proceeded to ‘choke’ her until she reportedly almost passed out,” the report said. “She was facing the wall and R. Morrison was behind her with his right arm around her neck.”
After she began hitting him in the head with the portable house phone, the couple’s live-in nanny Elenor “Maxine” Bennett, came down downstairs, and Morrison “reportedly told Bennett to go back upstairs,” police wrote.
But Ashley told Bennett “to stay because she felt scared,” the report said.
“The incident ended when R. Morrison stated that things had gotten out of hand and they needed to calm down,” the report said.
Ashley showed police officers on Jan. 20 three bruises on her right elbow, inside left forearm and underside left forearm, which she said she incurred during the Jan. 14 attack, cops wrote.
“These bruises were consistent with injuries that occur as a result of a persons arm being grabbed or squeezed by another person,” according to police, who took photos of those bruises.
Ashley wrote a signed, sworn written statement about the attack, according to police
Morrison’s story to cops about what happened Jan. 14 was much different — but he refused “numerous opportunities to provide a sworn written statement” about the incident, police wrote.
Morrison claimed that he and Ashley were arguing about the Jan. 12 dinner, and when Ashley “started going into a ‘rage’ he began videotaping her with his phone to show her how she was acting,” police wrote.
When Morrison refused to stop recording her, Ashley tried to grab the phone “at which time it fell out of his hands and onto the kitchen floor,” cops wrote.
“They reportedly both attempted to get the phone at which time both he and A. Morrison fell on the ground,” police wrote.
When Morrison stood up and “began repeatedly telling” Ashley to get up, she did and grabbed the portable house phone “and hit him over the head with it,” police said, quoting Morrison.
Cops questioned the Morrisons’ son Jack about the incident, but he told them he didn’t see it, according to the report.
Later on Jan. 20, cops contacted Ashley again, and said they were unable to reach Bennett, the live-in nanny.
Ashley told police that she and Morrison “had reconciled and the situation was much better,” cops wrote.
“When I explained that I was going to be applying for an arrest warrant for [Morrison] based on her statements” about Jan. 14, Ashley “became slightly upset.”
“She stated that she and R. Morrison had had a difficult week and things came to a head” on Jan. 19, cops wrote.
Ashley “explained that both her and R. Morrison were intoxicated and upset which prompted her to exaggerate her statement of the events that occurred on” Jan. 14, police wrote.
“She reported that due to her level of intoxication she was unsure if [Morrison] actually threw her to the ground and that was more probable that she just fell,” police wrote.
“She further stated that she felt that [Morrison] was only trying to get the portable phone from her so that she would not bring unnecessary attention to their problems by getting police involved,” the report said.
“When I informed her that interfering with an emergency phone call is illegal, she stated that neither she or her husband were aware of that, and that she didn’t feel [Morrison] was doing it to avoid getting himself in trouble.”
Ashely “retracted her statement concerning [Morrison’s] attempt to choke her, stating that she felt he was only trying to get the phone from her and their positioning during the incident might have led to his arm inadvertently being around her throat,” the police report said.