Bail is set at $100,000 for a man accused of strangling his girlfriend and causing significant injury to her neck during a dispute at a Cinebar residence on Monday.
The defendant, identified as Arnulfo Alaniz III, 35, of Centralia, claims he acted in self defense after his girlfriend attacked him with a knife and refused to give him his car keys.
“He has done nothing wrong … He is the actual victim. He is the one who was being held captive,” defense attorney Rachael Tiller said during Alaniz’s preliminary hearing in Lewis County Superior Court on Tuesday, June 3.
Charging documents filed in Lewis County Superior Court on Tuesday, which contain a summary of information provided by the law enforcement personnel who investigated the incident, suggest that there is more evidence to support the victim’s version of events than the defendant’s.
Deputies with the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a domestic dispute at the Cinebar residence at approximately 10:23 p.m. on Monday, June 2, according to court documents.
At the time, the victim reported that she had been strangled multiple times by her boyfriend, Alaniz, during an argument. Dispatchers reported that the victim “could still be heard arguing with her boyfriend” while on the phone.
When deputies arrived, the victim reportedly told them that she and Alaniz were “working through discussing her emotions and she stated she needed a break, so she went out to her vehicle where she was sitting alone.”
A short time later, Alaniz allegedly approached the victim in her vehicle and “demanded the keys to the vehicle he drives,” according to court documents. After the victim reportedly said she did not know where the keys were, Alaniz allegedly “got upset and ripped her out of the car and got on top of her and was choking her in the driveway,” according to court documents.
The victim reported that she “pleaded with Mr. Alaniz to let her up and catch her breath, and once he did, she went into the house and started looking for the keys,” according to court documents.
Alaniz allegedly followed her into the house, cornered her in the bedroom and began to strangle her again.
The victim told responding deputies that “she was strangled multiple times and during these times she felt kike she was going to black out and had difficulty breathing,” according to court documents.
Deputies photographed the victim’s injuries at the scene, which included red marks on her neck, swelling on her left temple, abrasions to her elbows and knees, and facial bleeding caused by a piercing being ripped out.
During Alaniz’s preliminary hearing on Tuesday, Deputy Prosecutor Brandi Archer described the photos of the victim’s injuries as “alarming,” adding that the severity of the victim’s injuries and the violent nature of the allegations gave the state significant concerns for community safety should Alaniz be released from jail.
When questioned by a deputy, Alaniz offered a different version of events than the victim, reportedly saying that the dispute started over vehicle keys but escalated when the victim allegedly pushed him, picked up a knife and cut his left arm, according to court documents.
Alaniz allegedly “stated he then fully defended himself” and allegedly admitted to pulling the victim out of the vehicle.
A deputy noted that Alaniz had “a superficial laceration or abrasion on his left arm,” according to court documents.
When asked to identify the knife used in the attack, Alaniz allegedly “first pointed to a small knife on the counter and then changed his mind and pointed to the biggest knife and shiniest knife in the dish drier and said that was what she used.”
Deputies reportedly examined the knives for blood “and did not find any,” according to court documents.
When asked about the victim’s injuries, Alaniz allegedly said the victim had shut his fingers in the center console of the car, “and after the incident in the kitchen he had to fully defend himself and grabbed her and pulled her out of the car,” according to court documents.
He allegedly repeatedly stated that “he fully defended himself” and “demonstrated how he had his hands out as if they were on the shoulders or neck of another person,” according to court documents.
Lewis County Jail records indicate Alaniz was arrested and booked into the jail at 11:48 p.m. on June 2.
He was charged June 3 in Lewis County Superior Court with two counts of second-degree assault, domestic violence.
While there were some discrepancies in court documents about the defendant’s name and some concern that the criminal history cited by the prosecution belonged to another person with a similar name, Judge Joely Yeager said that the allegations alone warrant the $100,000 bail amount requested by the prosecution.
“The lethality gives the court a lot of concern about community safety,” Yeager said Tuesday.
Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, June 12.
