ROCKWELL – A Rockwell man arrested earlier for felony domestic assault involving strangulation has taken a plea deal to a lesser charge.
Victor Mateo Lopez, age 24, had been arrested late in the evening of July 21, 2015, in Rockwell when a deputy responded to a domestic abuse situation in which Lopez allegedly struck a woman multiple times and impeded her breathing. For those alleged actions, Lopez was charged with felony domestic abuse assault involving strangulation.
In addition, a language barrier supposedly prevented Lopez from understanding his Miranda Rights when they were read to him by a deputy and he was accused of providing a fake name to the arresting deputy. This led to a charge of providing false information. He was jailed that night and a court date was set.
After being released from jail, Lopez failed to appear in court on August 18 and a warrant for his arrest was issued by a judge. Hampton police caught up with Lopez on October 1 and he was brought back to the Cerro Gordo county jail. An interpreter was appointed by a judge. Lopez pleaded not guilty on October 20 and was held in jail for months.
Finally, on March 11, Lopez entered a guilty plea to assault and was given a 30 day jail sentence and was released from jail, apparently for time-served. In addition, court records show he was ordered to pay $5,675.15 in fines and court costs; he made a payment of $5,000 as a bond he posted previously and then skipped his court arraignment. That bond payment was then forfeited to the courts.
The charge of providing false information was dismissed by a judge.