Man arrested for allegedly attacking neighbors, hitting woman with an air compressor
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IDAHO FALLS — A 34-year-old man was arrested after he and a woman reportedly attacked their neighbors in a front yard.
Ruben Hernandez is charged with felony aggravated battery, and misdemeanors for battery, intentional destruction of a telecommunication line, resisting or obstructing officers, possession of a controlled substance and an enhancement for being a persistent violator.
The woman associated with Hernandez was charged with misdemeanor battery.
Court documents say that on Aug. 4, around 6:15 p.m., Idaho Falls Police responded to a home for a disturbance. The reporting party told dispatch that one of the men involved was “bleeding from the head.”
When officers arrived, an ambulance was treating a man who was bleeding from his face. Police reports say his face was “covered in blood.”
The female victim on scene told officers that she was away from the home when the male victim and Hernandez got into a fight. When she arrived home, she started to call the police, and Hernandez allegedly “ran at her from across the yard and tackled her into the grass” before “picking up a small air compressor and (hitting) her in the head with it.”
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The female victim also stated that Hernandez “ripped (her) underwear and partially pulled her pants down.”
A woman associated with Hernandez then joined the alleged fight, punching the female victim, while Hernandez left to continue the fight with the man. Eventually, Hernandez and the woman stopped the alleged attack and went back into a nearby home.
Officers then went to speak to the male victim, who reportedly had two black, swollen eyes, “a lot of blood around his nose and all around his face”, but no obvious cuts.
The male victim told officers that Hernandez had asked him if he “wanted to finish an argument they had been having days before.” The man declined, saying there were kids outside.
Hernandez reportedly said it was a good time to fight because the female victim was not there, and the man agreed. Court documents say Hernandez then “started hitting him in the face a few times and then walked back into his house.”
The man said he eventually saw that Hernandez was attacking the female victim, so he pushed him off of her, and got into another fight with Hernandez. The man said he did not see the female victim get hit with an air compressor.
Officers then knocked on the door of the home that Hernandez and the woman went into. They reportedly refused to answer the door after officers knocked and repeatedly announced themselves.
Eventually, officers reportedly heard a “struggle happening on the side of the house.” Running over, officers saw that another officer had found Hernandez and was trying to detain him.
Hernandez would not tell officers his name, and was reportedly “pulling his hands away from (police) attempting to prevent handcuffs from being placed on him.” Eventually, officers were able to detain him. During a search of his person, officers reportedly found a small bundle of cash and a small metal tin containing marijuana.
The victims positively identified him as Hernandez, and he refused to speak to the police. At that point, officers knocked on the door of the home again, looking for the woman who was with Hernandez. Eventually, she opened the door and was carrying a baby.
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The woman allegedly told police that she “knew there was a fight but that she was in the house with her baby the entire time.” The officer pointed to drops of blood on her shirt and asked where they came from.
The woman stated it was an “old shirt,” but the officer pointed out it was fresh blood. She continued to say she did not leave the house.
Officers also spoke with witnesses from the neighborhood, one of whom stated they had video recorded the fight. They told officers that the woman who was with Hernandez was in the yard, hitting the female victim.
The neighbor showed officers the video, where they reportedly saw the woman hitting someone, then walking away, before the female victim stood up and pulled her pants up, which were partially pulled down.
They also say they saw Hernandez and the male victim separated after fighting.
When the woman was told that she had been recorded fighting the female victim outside, she reportedly stated she had “only gone to the porch and (tried) to defuse the situation from there.”
During the investigation, police learned that Hernandez has an “extensive” criminal history, including convictions for delivery of a controlled substance in 2011 and 2021, and possession of a controlled substance in 2014, 2016, and 2018.
Hernandez was then booked into the Bonneville County Jail on a $75,000 bond. He later posted bail and was released on Aug. 5.
While he was in jail, officers say he made a phone call to a woman and allegedly discussed “how he doesn’t allow anyone to disrespect him and how he had to go over and prove that to them.”
Hernandez is expected to appear for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 5. If convicted, he could face up to 18 and a half years in prison.
Though Hernandez has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.