Carrollton man convicted of kidnapping, assaulting girlfriend, district attorney says

CARROLL COUNTY, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A Carrollton man has been convicted of kidnapping and strangling his girlfriend, according to the Coweta district attorney.

According to the district attorney, Nathaniel Bernhardt “spent approximately 6 hours hitting, slapping, punching and strangling his girlfriend” the night of March 29. The woman said she blacked out multiple times and that each time she regained consciousness, Bernhardt would strangle her again.

She later told police that she tried to escape but Bernhardt ran her down and dragged her back to their apartment. She said Bernhardt would sling her around by her hair.

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Once the woman arrived at the hospital, the hospital “documented ‘a large bruise with swelling’ to the left eye and ‘multiple abrasions and bruising...around the neck.’” She also told hospital staff that Bernhardt had previously abused her, “but never to this extent,” prosecutors said.

Bernhardt was convicted of kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault by strangulation, false imprisonment, possession of more than an ounce of marijuana and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

According to the district attorney, the minimum sentence for kidnapping with bodily injury is life without parole.

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