By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
A Del Rio man is facing a felony assault charge after he allegedly punched and choked a woman during an argument over a phone, police said.
Ernesto Y. Medina Gonzalez, 33, 610 Plaza Ave., was arrested about 3 p.m. on Feb. 12 and charged with the offense of assault family/household member/impeding breath/circulation, a third-degree felony, according to records released by the Del Rio Police Department.
In an affidavit filed in the case, DRPD Senior Officer Jose Rueda wrote he was dispatched to a residence in the 1100 block of Aguirre Street at 2:49 p.m. on Feb. 12 after police were called about an assault that had already occurred.
Rueda reported when he arrived, he spoke with a woman who exhibited visible injuries, including a cut over one eyebrow.
The woman claimed she had been assaulted by a man she identified as Gonzalez, Rueda said.
The officer wrote the woman told him that she and Gonzalez were arguing over his phone. She claimed during the argument Gonzalez pushed her, punched her in the right eye, then punched her in the left eye and on the left side of her head.
The woman told Rueda at one point in the assault she slipped and fell and claimed Gonzalez kept hitting her while she was on the ground.
“(The woman) said Gonzalez then started to choke her, and she couldn’t breathe. (The woman) added she yelled for Gonzalez to stop choking her because she was starting to feel weak,” Rueda reported.
Following the assault, the woman said she accompanied Gonzalez to a relative’s home for a cookout. At the cookout, the woman said she stayed in the car until another relative came to check on her. That relative took her to her mother’s house and called police.
Rueda said the woman declined medical treatment from an emergency medical services team dispatched to the residence.
Rueda reported he subsequently arrested Gonzalez for the assault and transported him to the police station for booking and processing.
Justice of the Peace Pct. 2 Antonio “Tony” Faz III set bond at $7,500 in the case and signed an emergency protective order on the woman’s behalf.
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