A Moriarty woman was arrested Monday on a misdemeanor charge of battery against a household member following a domestic dispute at her residence.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Torrance County Magistrate Court, deputies responded to a call for service at approximately 9:49 p.m. regarding an unwanted person at the address.
The complaint states that medical personnel were already on scene when deputies arrived and had spoken with the defendant, who appeared intoxicated and disoriented. The woman told investigators her boyfriend had been staying with her for the past three days while working in the area.
According to the complaint, the woman said an argument erupted after the couple returned from buying dinner in Moriarty. She told deputies she began preparing chicken when the dispute escalated, with her boyfriend allegedly becoming violent and grabbing her right arm before throwing her to the ground.
The woman reported grabbing her boyfriend’s shirt and said she accidentally burned him with a cigarette during the altercation. She told investigators she asked him to leave, but he refused. When the two went outside to continue arguing, he eventually left and returned to his residence, approximately one road south of her home.
Both individuals admitted to drinking, with the woman acknowledging she had consumed two banana-flavored vodka beverages, according to the complaint.
The boyfriend provided a different account to law enforcement. He told investigators that when he attempted to leave after the argument escalated, the woman prevented his departure. He alleged she punched him repeatedly, kicked him in the chest and knocked the wind out of him, stating they both fell to the ground on two separate occasions.
The man reported that the woman punched him “all over,” including his face, and that he discovered a bruise on the left side of his face after returning home. He denied laying hands on the woman.
Deputies also spoke with the woman’s grandmother by phone, who said she heard the boyfriend telling her granddaughter to stop hitting him and to let him leave through an open phone line.
The defendant was transported to the sheriff’s office for processing and later booked into the Torrance County Detention Center.
