This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A Salt Lake City man was charged for allegedly stalking and beating his former girlfriend to get her to sign papers to dismiss a stalking order against him.
The 42-year-old man was charged in 3rd District Court with retaliation against a witness, or victim, a third-degree felony; stalking, a class A misdemeanor; and assault, unlawful detention and threat of violence, all class B misdemeanors.
The man and woman dated for about a year before breaking up in 2011. Since that time, the man had been stalking the woman, sending emails demanding money and threatening text messages, and calling her as many as 70 times a day, according to court records. He also would follow her and physically assault her, court records state.
The woman called police numerous times. In February a judge granted a temporary civil stalking order against the man, according to court documents.
On March 1, the woman was moving out of her apartment because the man knew where she lived. When the woman got out of her car, the man ran toward her. The woman got back in her car, but couldn't lock the door before the man opened it and said, "if you don't give me your keys, I'll snap your neck," according to court documents.
As the woman tried to fight back, he grabbed the keys and started shoving her head into the steering wheel. He then grabbed her by the hair and dragged her out of the car, "pulling out a clump of hair in the process," court records state. The man showed her several papers and demanded she sign them or he would break her neck. He slapped the woman's face and shoved her back into the car, according to court documents.
The woman saw a car approaching and tried to wave her hands and honk her car horn for help. The driver of the car stopped and asked what was wrong. The man said the woman was just "crazy," according to court documents.
The woman agreed to sign the papers, which were now smeared with blood, if the man gave her keys to the driver of the other car.
After she signed the documents, the man said he knew about her calling the police on him in the past. "If you call the police, I will track you down for as long as it takes and kill you," court records quote him as saying.
The man got in his truck and drove away and later submitted the blood-stained motion to dismiss the stalking documents in 3rd District Court, court records state.
Other documents he made her sign included retracting "any statements, written or verbal" the woman had made that would show he posed a threat to her safety or well-being. He also had her sign a form stating she would "voluntarily terminate any proceedings official or otherwise," according to court documents.
Twitter: @CimCity