A man who admitted to drinking 21 beers allegedly punched his wife in front of their son and then fled from police, running a stop sign and driving the wrong way in Park City, prosecutors said.
Gabriel Cruz-Avalos, 48, of Park City, was charged with aggravated fleeing to elude a peace officer, two counts of driving under the influence, two counts of domestic battery, disregarding a stop sign and driving the wrong way on a one-way street.
The Park City Police Department responded on September 7 to a 911 call from a residence in the 3500 block of Kehm Boulevard in Park City.
A woman told dispatchers that her husband, Cruz-Avalos, wanted to kill her and dispatchers heard that she was hysterically crying, Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Dino Katris said.
Cruz-Avalos and his wife live together and have children in common.
The woman handed the phone to the couple’s 16-year-old son, who said his father was hitting his mother in the bedroom and was now leaving in a white Dodge Charger, according to Katris.
Officers responded and encountered Cruz-Avalos on the road, Katris said.
A Park City police officer in full uniform was directly behind Cruz-Avalos in a marked squad car with its lights and sirens activated but he did not stop, Katris said.
Cruz-Avalos allegedly ran a stop sign at Jen Avenue and Teske Boulevard and then turned and drove the wrong way on a one-way street that was posted with a one-way sign.
Katris said Cruz-Avalos was eventually stopped and showed signs of extreme intoxication, with the smell of alcohol emitting from his breath and having glassy, bloodshot eyes.
Cruz-Avalos provided a preliminary breath test result of 0.216 and a breath sample of 0.214 at the police station, Katris said. The legal limit to drive in Illinois is 0.08.
Cruz-Avalos admitted to drinking 21 beers since 1 p.m. that afternoon, Katris said.
Officers interviewed his wife and saw redness underneath her eye.
The woman told officers that Cruz-Avalos punched her in the face and then punched her in the arm repeatedly before pushing her down to the ground into some bins.
Officers saw swelling and bruising forming on the woman’s left elbow.
Katris said the son heard the commotion and saw his father’s hand pulling back after a punch and his father shoving his mother to the ground.
The son came to his mother’s rescue and shoved Cruz-Avalos off of her, Katris said. Officers noted Cruz-Avalos had no visible injuries.
Katris said Cruz-Avalos admitted to at least pushing his wife and said he fled from police.
Katris said the woman does not feel safe, feels threatened by Cruz-Avalos and intends to get an order of protection.
The woman said there have been many instances of unreported physical abuse and Cruz-Avalos has threatened to kill himself in the past, Katris said.
The son also confirmed to police that he has seen multiple instances of physical abuse against his mother.
Cruz-Avalos was transported for a First Appearance Court hearing and the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain him pending trial, arguing his release would pose a real and present threat to the safety of the community.
Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim granted the petition following a detention hearing after finding that no conditions of release could mitigate the threat Cruz-Avalos poses and ordered him detained pending trial.
The judge said that while Cruz-Avalos does not have a criminal history, he drove the wrong way down a one-way street while highly intoxicated and has an unreported history of domestic battery involving the victim.
“This dependency and longtime pattern of behavior cannot be magically corrected with court conditions,” Katris said.
“To release this Defendant is a mistake because it is almost guaranteed that he will become intoxicated and look to take out his failures on the Victim,” Katris said.
Cruz-Avalos remains held in the Lake County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court on October 5 for a preliminary hearing.