Man charged but denies knocking girlfriend unconscious, pointing gun at witnesses
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IDAHO FALLS — A man who allegedly hit his girlfriend hard enough to knock her unconscious and then threatened several witnesses with a gun has been charged with multiple felonies.
Cristian Eduardo Gutierrez, 31, is facing three counts of felony aggravated assault with a threat of violence and one count of misdemeanor battery, according to court documents.
On the evening of May 30, Bonneville County sheriff’s deputies were called out to Wolf Flats Campground, where they found an injured woman sitting in the back of a pickup truck. She had a cut on her head and lost consciousness repeatedly as the deputies questioned her, a police booking affidavit states.
Deputies say they located Gutierrez nearby in a tent and took him into custody.
Family members of the woman who said they witnessed the altercation told deputies that Gutierrez appeared frustrated that the woman, her children and her family members had taken an hour to return from a beer run.
They said he hit the woman on the head, and she fell unconscious beside the vehicle. He then pointed a handgun at the family members and the woman’s children, they allege in the affidavit.
The two family members told deputies they were able to wrestle the gun away from Gutierrez before handing it over to his father for safekeeping.
However, Gutierrez and his father shared a different account of what happened. According to the affidavit, they claimed that Gutierrez did push the woman but did not draw his weapon or point it at anyone. Rather, they said the woman hit Gutierrez first, after he expressed frustration about not wanting to babysit her children.
According to Gutierrez, he then pushed the woman away from him and assumed that she had hit her head against a vehicle and lost consciousness.
The woman’s family members then tackled him, Gutierrez claimed, and one of them threatened to pull a gun. That’s when Gutierrez warned that he had a gun, as well, the affidavit states.
To de-escalate the situation, the weapons were surrendered to Gutierrez’s father, Gutierrez claimed.
Court documents say Gutierrez’s father also told deputies that he observed the woman to be very intoxicated, and that she collapsed while initially exiting the vehicle. The woman collapsed a second time after Gutierrez pushed her, he said, but she appeared to him to be fine afterward.
After deputies arrived, the woman and her two children, ages 7 and 9, were taken to a hospital in an ambulance, according to court documents. The two children, who also witnessed the dispute, told deputies they do not recall Gutierrez pointing a gun, according to the affidavit.
The woman told deputies she had no recollection of the fight, according to court documents.
Gutierrez is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on June 12 at 1 p.m. before Bonneville County Magistrate Judge Jacob Workman.
Though Gutierrez has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.
If he is found guilty, Gutierrez faces up to 15 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $16,000, along with restitution.
East Idaho News reached out to the public defense attorney’s office for comment, but did not hear back before the time of publication.