Exmore man acquitted of strangulation and assault charges

By Linda Cicoira

A 68-year-old Exmore man was acquitted Monday in Northampton Circuit Court of strangulation and assault and battery in an incident that occurred last summer.

The verdict caused the alleged victim to cry out, curse, and stomp out of the room before being called back in by Judge Lynwood W. Lewis Jr., who scolded her for her outburst.

The defendant was Keith Allen Pruitt, of Willis Wharf Road, a customer at the Food Lion in Exmore on June 2, 2024. Store worker Lisa Brittingham identified Pruitt as the person who approached her at the store and grabbed a lanyard that was around her neck. He tightened it in a choking manner two times. A store surveillance video was played for the court and confirmed her allegations.

Brittingham said she was too scared to ask for help from those nearby and to complain to authorities about the incident.

The first time he tightened the lanyard, he said, “You like it like that, don’t you?” the woman told the court. “I felt the tightness across my windpipe. I had to gasp for breath at this point … I was just too scared.” She said she froze. The second time, “I checked out. I went to a safe place in my head. I just knew I had to comply. It’s just the way I have been conditioned all my life … Inside, I’m screaming. I knew if I walked away. I knew I would probably get worse than what I got … I was thinking just keep him calm. Get him out of here, and you can get away.”

“I was scared of Mr. Pruitt and the repercussions of going to the police,” Brittingham said. “I wanted to forget about it and I couldn’t. My mental health was really affected by it, and I started to lose control of myself.”

Pruitt did not testify. Defense lawyer Tom Northam said the evidence did not prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. “A two-month delay seems very unusual,” he said of the time it took her to file a complaint. He said there was no sign of injury. Northam argued that none of the five people seen nearby in the video had a reaction or intervened, and she didn’t call for help. Northam further argued to choke a person, one would get behind them. She continued to talk to him for three minutes and “appears to laugh,” the defense lawyer said.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Jack Thornton said he has prosecuted many instances of choking from the front of a victim. He said she told of a pain level of 6 out of 10, which is sufficient for the statute of strangulation “no matter how temporary” the pain might be. Thornton also argued that the unwanted touching was enough to prove assault.

Judge Lewis said he “never saw her hands move to the neck, the instinctive thing anyone would do … she continues talking and eating, she breaks out in laughter at the end. I’ve got plenty of reasonable doubt,” he said.

“Are you kidding me?” the woman shouted after the verdict. “The man put his hands on me.” This is a “corrupted f****** courtroom…” she continued before getting up to leave the room.

“Come back in here,” the judge yelled. “You do not speak this way in my courtroom or any courtroom. That is a one-way ticket to jail in this court.” Lewis said he would give her a break this time, understanding she was upset and he did not know her history. He told her to leave in an orderly fashion. Brittingham followed that instruction.

She testified she knew of Pruitt’s history, which was part of why he scared her. Pruitt was convicted of aggravated sexual battery in 1996, stalking in 2002 and 2007, and destruction of property in 2024. He is a tier 3 registered sex offender.