A Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s deputy charged a 17-year-old girl with aggravated assault after she allegedly hit her boyfriend in the head with a belt buckle.
Sgt. Cedric Patterson responded to a domestic violence incident on Dec. 29. The area of the incident is unknown, as it was redacted from his incident report.
While he was on his way to the scene, he was told that the victim, a 17-year-old identified only by his initials, Z.L., had gone to Taos County, but was told to return to the scene of the incident.
“I learned the male victim had a laceration to his head and was requesting medical attention,” Patterson wrote. “At approximately mile marker 339 on State Road 285, the victim was being treated for his injuries by paramedics on the side of the road.”
After he was treated, Z.L. agreed to talk to Patterson and said he and his girlfriend of one year, identified only by her initials as D.M., got into an argument and physical altercation in her room.
The argument began because he wanted to take a nap due to not getting a good night’s rest, Patterson wrote.
“Z.L. stated D.M., then slapped him on the back near the neck area,” the sergeant wrote. “Z.L. said he then pushed D.M. in self-defense, trying to get away from her. Z.L. said D.M. continued to slap him, then later hit him in the head with a belt buckle. Z.L. later called family members and left the area.”
While speaking with the teen, Patterson saw a large amount of blood coming down the side of his head, covering his ear.
When the teen moved his hair, Patterson saw a one-inch cut on the right said of his head and two red marks on his back, he wrote.
Z.L. was released from the scene and taken to the Española Hospital for further medical attention.
Patterson then went to D.M.’s house and made contact with her and her mother. He asked the girl’s mother if she could speak with D.M. and she agreed, Patterson wrote.
He asked D.M. what happened and she said “I would rather not talk about it or words similar to that manner.”
They showed Patterson the room in which the argument took place and he saw several small blood splatters on the floor and a black belt hanging on the wall.
“Looking closely at the belt, I did not see any blood or anything broken, indicating this was the belt used in the altercation,” Patterson wrote.
After he was finished taking photos of the scene, he called the on-call juvenile probation officer, who said the criteria for incarceration was met.
Patterson then handcuffed D.M. and took her to the Española Hospital for a medical clearance after which she was transported without incident to the San Juan County Juvenile Detention Center.