Police: Bilingual Plea for Help Ends Attack

Caledonia police say an 18-year-old man is facing serious domestic abuse charges after he beat the mother of his child, threatened to kill her and made her drive to her bank so she could withdraw cash for him.

Patch is not naming the man to protect the identity of the woman, but he faces one felony count each of Strangulation and Suffocation, False Imprisonment, Robbery with Threat of Force, and Intimidate Victim/Use or Attempt Force. The man also faces single misdemeanor charges of battery and disorderly conduct and two misdemeanor counts of criminal damage to property.

If convicted, he faces up to 32 years in prison and/or up to $101,000 in fines.

According to the criminal complaint, the man on Monday was caring for his son while the boy's mother was at work. When the woman arrived at the man's apartment after work, he demanded $30 in payment for watching the boy. The woman told the man he didn't serve any money and that's when he attacked her.

Police say the man punched, kicked and strangled the woman and told her the only way he would allow her to leave was if she gave him money. Finally, the woman convinced the man she would need to go to the bank for cash, but the man threatened to kill her family if she tried to call the police.

The man smashed the woman's cell phone before they left his apartment, and during the drive to the bank he threw several items out the window, including the review mirror, the garage door opener and the passenger-side visor, the complaint reads.

When they arrived at the bank, the man exited the vehicle and walked to the front door, but the bank was closed. Officers say the woman approached an employee she knew who was leaving and spoke to him in Spanish that she was in danger and she needed the police.

After officers arrived, they questioned the man, who admitted to getting into an altercation with the woman but that she started it.

The man remains in the Racine County Jail on a $2,500 cash bond. His preliminary is Oct. 3.