A Juneau man has been indicted on 11 felony assault charges by a grand jury after severely beating the mother of his child, leaving her with a broken jaw and dozens of other injuries.
Lorenzo Lopez, 25, was arrested by the Juneau Police Department on Dec. 11 after a resident of the Coho Apartments reported hearing items being thrown around an apartment and a woman shout “Get out of my house!”
When officer Jason Van Sickle arrived, he found Lopez inside an apartment with blood on his face and hands. While Lopez talked with JPD Sgt. Shawn Phelps, Van Sickle walked into the apartment and found a woman sitting on the floor, holding a bloody towel to her face.
In her lap was a child less than five years old.
At Bartlett Regional Hospital, Van Sickle catalogued 25 separate injuries to the woman, including a broken jaw, extensive bruising and multiple lacerations. Her nose was so badly cut that Van Sickle repeatedly asked her whether Lopez had used a knife.
“I observed and photographed blood on the floor of nearly every room in the apartment including the stairs and front porch,” Van Sickle testified. “The floor of the kitchen was smeared with blood as if a struggle had taken place.”
Van Sickle observed that broken dishes were strewn about, and the indictment alleges that Lopez used the sharp edges of the dishes against his victim.
It also accuses him of battering her head against the floor, using the floor as a weapon.
The grand jury returned its indictment on Wednesday, and Lopez is scheduled to be arraigned in superior court on Dec. 28. He remains in custody on $30,000 bond.
Prolific thief accused of felony
Dirk Daugherty, one of the capital city’s most prolific thieves, is again in court.
On Tuesday, a grand jury indicted Daugherty for first-degree vehicle theft and second-degree burglary, both class C felonies.
According to police, Daugherty allegedly stole a vehicle from a repair shop.
Daugherty has been involved in 41 different court cases (and faced more than 100 criminal charges) since 1997, including dozens related to theft. In 2016 alone, he has faced 11 cases including more than two dozen criminal charges. In this year so far, he has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft three times, to criminal trespassing six times, to violating conditions of release, to concealing merchandise and a citation for failing to appear in court.
