By Bill McCleery

bill.mccleery@indystar.com

A pregnant Indianapolis woman was choked this morning at an Eastside motel by a man who fathered some of her children, police said.

Around 4 a.m., officers were dispatched to a disturbance at the Motor 8 Inn at 3731 N. Shadeland Ave., according to an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department report. In the lobby, an officer encountered a woman wearing only a towel who said a man had just assaulted her.

The 31-year-old man choked the woman and kept her in her motel room against her will for a period of time before leaving, the 43-year-old woman said.

Over the past four days, the woman had invited the man to her motel room on multiple occasions to have sex, she told police. This morning, however, the man became aggressive while intoxicated, she said.

When the woman wanted to leave the room, the man ripped the phone cord out of the wall, she told police, and removed the battery from her cellphone. Police said the woman had scratch marks on the left side of her neck and left arm. She also had a small bruise on the inside of her left thigh.

The woman told police she is pregnant with her 21st child.

Because the woman was heavily intoxicated, she was difficult to understand, police said.

Police said they did not find the man at his home.

"The investigation is active and ongoing," said Sgt. Linda Jackson.

Police are unsure who was keeping the woman's children during her time at the motel.

"There were no children listed in the case report as present during this incident," Jackson said.

Call Star reporter Bill McCleery at (317) 444-6083. Follow him on Twitter: @BillMcCleery01.