SPANAWAY, Wash. — He wasn’t supposed to be near his wife. Yet he was, and he dragged her 1,400 feet with his car, police say.
The 28-year-old Spanaway man has three active no-contact orders prohibiting him from being around his wife.
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Yet detectives say he argued with her Wednesday in the 16800 block of 6th Avenue East and dragged her quite a distance after her foot became stuck in the door of their Pontiac.
Several people called 911 about 7 p.m. to report a vehicle driving in reverse, dragging a man and woman with it.
Pierce County sheriff’s deputies arrived to find a woman with a bloodied nose and cuts covering her legs going in and out of consciousness.
A man who had run to her aid when he saw her being dragged was lying on the ground, complaining about a possible broken arm.
He told investigators he was visiting friends in the neighborhood when he saw the Pontiac backing up at 40 mph and a woman holding onto the driver’s door and screaming for help.
The man and a few others ran to help.
He reached the vehicle first and tried to pull her out but got stuck “and ended up being dragged behind the vehicle with the woman,” court records show.
The Pontiac struck a parked Nissan Pathfinder, throwing both the wife and man to the ground. The driver sped away, possibly running over them in his haste, authorities say.
Deputies arrested the husband in a nearby parking lot after he called 911 to report the incident.
He told detectives he knew he shouldn’t be near his wife, but they were arguing over the car keys when she leaned into the Pontiac and began hitting him.
That’s why he started backing up. He said that he didn’t realize her foot was trapped in the door and that he became scared when another man appeared and began punching him and his car.
The wife, who needed stitches on her forehead, said she doesn’t remember much about the episode.
She said her husband put the car in reverse because neighbors were approaching and he was afraid of being beat up. That’s all she recalled before waking up in an ambulance.
The husband is being held on $250,000 bail.
He pleaded not guilty Wednesday to two counts of second-degree assault, three counts of violating a domestic violence order and striking an unattended vehicle.
The no-contact orders stem from an incident in June involving the couple. Prosecutors charged the husband with fourth-degree assault and third-degree malicious mischief and ordered him not to come within 500 feet of his wife.
One of the orders is valid until 2022.
KIRO
