A Batesville man has been charged in Independence County Circuit Court after attacking his girlfriend and then, police.
The court information said officers from the Batesville Police Department were sent to a residence in Batesville on July 1 in regards to a domestic disturbance. Upon arrival, officers met a distraught female who was visibly upset, scared and crying.
The woman told officers she fled her residence after her live-in boyfriend, Francisco Lopez-Mendoza, 25, attacked her and forcibly threw her to the floor, striking the back of her head. She said he then strangled her into unconsciousness, according to court documents.
The documents note the officers did observe marks to her neck, scratches and a raspy voice, all consistent with strangulation.
Officer Larry Ring and Sgt. Rick Davis went to the residence’s address and found Lopez-Mendoza, drinking in public, court info says. Lopez-Mendoza refused orders from the officers to stand up and began to fight them, striking Ring, causing a small laceration above the officer’s eye.
As the officers were putting Lopez-Mendoza into the squad car, he again became combative and spit blood on Ring. Lopez-Mendoza was then placed into a spit mask, as well as leg restraints and taken to jail.
Lopez-Mendoza is now charged with three felonies: 1) second-degree battery, 2) aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, and 3) aggravated assault on a household member.
He has been placed on a $30,000 cash bond.
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