Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Husband arrested despite victim’s efforts to cover up domestic assault
Lawrenceburg Now
A Lawrenceburg man was arrested during the weekend despite his wife’s efforts to cover up the fact that he had assaulted her.
The matter was reported by a passerby who saw a man striking a woman at the door of a Crowson Road home at around 6:30 Saturday morning. He stopped by the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department seeking assistance, explaining that he came directly there because he had no cell phone. He told them that a woman was beating on the door when a man wearing dark boxer shorts opened the door and began hitting her.
Deputies quickly responded to the address, notifying Lawrenceburg Police officers because the incident had actually occurred in their jurisdiction.
The reporting officer indicates that when they arrived they were able to make contact with the twenty-seven year old victim. She initially told them that she and “a guy named Chris” were at a bar drinking earlier. Once at her house, she said that they had argued and “hit each other.” She said that “Chris” had left walking. She told officers that she did not know his last name, nor did she know where he might have gone.
Officers asked whether there was anyone else inside the house and report that the victim initially denied that there was. Eventually she told them that “her cousin was passed out in the bed.” Officers report that once they were able to rouse the person inside, however, they learned that it was the victim’s husband.
The man, identified as twenty-one year old Claudio Contreras, was wearing dark color boxer shorts. They had him come outside and the witness was able to positively identify him as the man he saw striking the victim.
Contreras was placed under arrest on charges of domestic assault and transported to the Lawrence County Detention Center. While en route, Contreras allegedly told officers that he and his wife had been at a bar until around 2:00 a.m., then went home. He said that his wife “was going to leave and go to Chicago with her mother” and had awakened him “yelling and slapping him looking for the keys.” He told deputies that he had locked her out of the house and she was beating on the door. She said that once he opened the door, she started yelling at him once again.
Reports indicate that the woman had sustained minor injuries such as a busted upper lip. Emergency medical personnel were called to the scene, however the victim refused medical treatment.
Contreras was incarcerated under a bond of $20,600. He is scheduled to answer the domestic assault charge in General Sessions Court on August 8, 2016.
