Utah man facing felony battery charges after woman recounts brutal beating in Idaho
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IDAHO FALLS — A follow-up investigation has led local authorities to charge a 39-year-old Utah man with battery in connection with a fight that happened three years ago.
Brandon Michael Mitchell of Syracuse, Utah, is accused of beating a Utah woman while the two were visiting Idaho in 2023. Law enforcement authorities say the woman was seriously injured in the beating, requiring her to be treated at a hospital.
According to court documents, on Feb. 2, 2024, a Bonneville County sheriff’s detective was contacted by a detective from Utah regarding the initial report the woman gave to Bonneville County deputies about her injuries.
In 2023, the woman told deputies she had been attacked by a group of unknown men. However, the Utah detective said she had since told Utah authorities that she lied to the Bonneville County deputy when making that report because she was afraid of Mitchell.
The woman said she felt safe telling the truth at that point because Mitchell had been jailed in Beaver County, Utah, court documents state.
In recounting the 2023 incident to law enforcement, the woman said she and Mitchell were eating at a restaurant when they got into an argument. The affidavit does not say which restaurant the two were at or when the argument started.
As a result of the argument, the woman told police she and Mitchell got their food to go and left to eat at a lake.
Once at the lake, Mitchell began to punch the woman in the face repeatedly and ripped out a portion of her hair, according to the affidavit. Police say she told them her nose was broken when Mitchell headbutted her.
She told the detective she knew how badly she was hurt and that she needed to get medical attention quickly. However, in the affidavit, she claims Mitchell told her to tell law enforcement and paramedics to lie for him and say she got “jumped” by four men.
The document states that doctors diagnosed her with a broken nose, and she also sustained cuts that required stitches. The woman’s medical records also document the nasal fracture, along with bruising on her face and arms.
When asked why she would have lied to the deputies, the woman told the detective that Mitchell had threatened to leave her in Idaho, and she was afraid of another beating.
The affidavit says the woman took photos of her injuries and said she still has a scar from the beating. The images were sent to the Bonneville County detective, and it was noted in the document that her nose remained crooked since the assault.
After a warrant was issued for Michell’s arrest, he contacted the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office by letter in October, telling them he was an inmate at the Beaver County Jail.
Court documents show that Mitchell has since been paroled, but his attorney has requested that Mitchell be allowed to appear in court via web camera because his parole restrictions do not allow him to leave the state of Utah.
Mitchell is scheduled to appear before Magistrate Judge Wiley Dennert for a preliminary hearing at 1 p.m. on March 31.
Though Mitchell has been charged with this crime, it does not necessarily mean he committed it. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.