Bail is set at $20,000 for a Centralia man accused of strangling his wife when she tried to take the keys to his vehicle during a dispute shortly after midnight on Wednesday.
Trinidad Edward Lopez Jr., 32, was booked into the Lewis County Jail at approximately 1:03 a.m. on March 5 and was charged later that day in Lewis County Superior Court with one count of second-degree assault, domestic violence.
Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, March 13.
The victim called 911 at approximately 12:18 a.m. on March 5 to report “that her husband … had choked her when she tried to take his keys,” according to court documents.
She reported that she and Lopez “had been fighting, and it appeared they would be breaking up,” so “she went to where the keys hung on the wall and removed the vehicle keys from the wall, as she did not want to be left without a vehicle,” according to court documents.
After the victim took the keys, Lopez allegedly “came up behind her and wrapped his arm around her neck in a chokehold, with his forearm around her windpipe,” according to court documents.
She reported that she “tried to fight Trinidad’s arm off her neck, but was unable,” and said “she was not able to breathe for about 20 seconds and she had a fear for her life.” She said she eventually threw the keys onto the ground, “which caused Trinidad to loosen his hold around her neck,” according to court documents. She reported that she “does not believe he would have released her if she had not surrendered the keys.”
Lopez denied strangling his wife but allegedly said he grabbed her wrist to get the keys “because she was keeping them from him,” according to court documents. He allegedly “agreed her account of the events would ‘probably’ be different from his,” and later allegedly said “whatever she says happened is what happened,” according to court documents.
Four children were in the house at the time of the incident but did not witness the assault, according to court documents.
A no-contact order protecting the victim is in place.
