New details on Sunday morning arrest after SWAT team response

IDAHO FALLS – Court documents reveal new details about a SWAT team response that ended with an Idaho Falls man behind bars.

Robert Alan Flores Jr., 45, was charged with felony domestic battery inflicting traumatic injury and misdemeanor resisting or obstructing officers.

At 12:27 a.m. Sunday, Idaho Falls Police were dispatched to an residence on K Street in Idaho Falls after a report that a woman had fled from her basement apartment after a fight with Flores.

The woman told dispatch Flores was still in the apartment.

The officer writes in his report that he knew Flores after trying to serve a warrant at the apartment earlier that same night.

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The warrant was for a Dec. 15 incident, where Flores allegedly entered a health care facility and assaulted two workers – one whom he knew personally and another who attempted to intervene. The warrant was issued for two counts of battery on a health care worker and one count of burglary with a persistent violator enhancement.

Officers were able to set up a perimeter around the apartment building and contacted the victim at a neighbor’s home, where she reportedly “fled to seek safety and use their phone to call for help.”

The victim was reportedly “extremely distraught” and told the officers she was asleep in her apartment when someone knocked on the door.

When she answered the door and saw it was Flores, she reportedly asked him to leave.

Officers say the victim was “very reluctant to provide (officers) with details regarding how the altercation with (Flores) became physical and appeared extremely fearful and emotional.”

According to the police report, the victim was also intoxicated and “holding her face and jaw area, which made it difficult to understand her.” She also told officers that she felt like her face was swollen.

The victim stated she “didn’t know what (Flores) had done” and wasn’t sure if she needed paramedics.

When asked about how the fight started, she told officers that “she thinks she hit him first and got some hits in because she has a bruise and swelling on her right hand.”

According to the officer in the report, the victim has told him in the past that she had a no-contact order against Flores.

The victim continued to say that she had a headache, she felt like her face was swollen, and at one point, said she thought her tooth was loose from the fight.

Officers say she has “significant redness developing on her lower left jaw.”

Another officer contacted a neighbor who had a security camera near the apartment. He learned that near midnight, a man wearing all black with his hood up was seen running through the neighbor’s backyard on the security footage.

The victim gave officers consent to go into the apartment to check for Flores. When they arrived, they noticed that the door was locked, and the deadbolt, which could only be locked from the inside, was in place.

Because of this, the IFPD SWAT team was dispatched, and a search warrant was obtained for the apartment.

Officers reportedly made several announcements with a PA speaker, telling Flores to leave the apartment and that they had a warrant for his arrest, but he did not leave the apartment.

The SWAT team then breached the door and saw a man inside. According to court documents, they again told him to leave the apartment, and he did not.

The SWAT team then deployed CS gas, a type of tear gas, and Flores exited the apartment.

He was taken into custody and booked into the Bonneville County Jail with a bond of $100,000, and a no-contact order was issued for the victim.

Flores is expected to appear for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 3. If convicted, he could face up to 11 years in prison.

Though Flores has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.