on January 2nd 2023 officers were dispatched to a residence regarding a woman who had just been brutally attacked by her boyfriend I'm just going to ask you again while he's here I know you already said but when he put his hand on your throat he said is is this what you like you want sh and and were you able to breathe when he had his hand around your throat uh I wasn't I was scared I was scared and then and shock and I I couldn't move I froze right but what I asked is when he had his hand around your throat did you have any difficulty breathing a little okay and I was only for like it didn't last very long did you lose Consciousness at all no okay so did he threaten you with the knife or was he just destroying property in your room he was destroying proper lady he laid hands on me and then I know earlier okay I just didn't want to I ARG righted the on AT3 hours at Pine in Laural and Venice what made him stop I told him like I woke up and I told him don't touch me don't touch me like and I told him can you stop attacking you did your family members get involved or did he just stop on his own and leave I don't know was but I know like she walked in with them and they talked to her okay they talked to him before he left yeah they told him to was all right okay and this is your boyfriend how long have you guys been dating Facebook official September 30th okay talk a little bit before that okay I'm just going to talk with his officer real quick just hang tight okay so I pulled up they're all waiting outside and they said that he left obviously now it's probably about an hour ago in his horn s um she said that they've been dating for about 3 months now they've never lived together and they have no children Comm but it is an intima dating relationship oh should I move my hand yeah oh I can't I thought this was for a she said that she was like they'd had an argument she laid down in bed she didn't want to fight anymore and she said that he started like violently shaking her rolled her over uh put his hand on her throat and said something to the effect of like is this what you want is this how you like and she thinks he's doing this because he was going through her phone while she was sleeping uh she said I mean you you heard her she said that she had difficulty breathing while his hand was right her throat she never lost Consciousness and I guess while she was sleeping he had taken a box cutter and destroyed some property I have not been in there to see it but then it sounds like some family members went in and talk to him and then he left yeah he's probably back he lives with his dad in Venice so I'm sure he's there um do do you want written statements and I have not actually looked at her neck to see if there's any injuries yet okay but he did he like threaten her with the box cutter or she I asked her that directly and she did not just damage property she said just damage property 40 he did impede her breathing somewhat though right is that enough foration she said she had difficulty breathing yeah she never blacked out but I I think that you could definitely that could be sufficient especially if she has marks on her neck which I haven't checked yet um do you want witness statements yeah okay um do you want me to hold off for a little bit or do you want to have because he already passed what's it called like 25 30 minutes ago unless now see if we can find the car at least at the [Music] house where does he live in Venice or his dad lives in Venice you have the address [ __ ] yeah I had it he's probably there my suggestion would be uh solidify your case confirm your char charges and your problem cause and then uh contact the supervisor and then have another jurisdiction go check cuz if something falls apart in a few minutes and then they get into something down there trying to get into this guy and that wouldn't look very good so we'll solidify this and then move on he does have mental health issues he's on uh medication for anxiety or he was and he stopped taking it okay how long ago did he stop taking his that's something for the girlfriend I only only spoke with the sister I'll grab some St okay she probably oh your car's way back I also want my car yeah I don't play you um so I what I do I literally bring up the elements of my phone and make sure she I know it's domestic is it domestic I wasn't here Dating Violence I think they they don't have any kids but get her on camera saying she doesn't want to press um it always helps even if it is domestic I always open up the elements and then make sure we have a crime SL us then we can call terrorist what's that in Venice his address just write that down what's his name do you mind if we talk to you one more time I'll be the one taking this report I know it's you're going through a lot but I just like to kind of hear everything for myself again okay so this happened approximately about an hour ago maybe even a little bit longer okay and you guys are both in your bedroom and that's upstairs which apartment you live in okay what exactly happened up there he started talking to me and arguing and everything and I didn't want things to be escalator so I like I told him can to talk later like let's wait until tomorrow you know like I have nothing more to say to you what were you guys arguing about like he was just saying a lot of things and I just I wasn't really responding at all and that and I tried later down to go to sleep and he started cutting up um a stuffed animal with the box Cut and then he cut up my my favorite [ __ ] shirt and then he shook me awake and he said like this is what you want isn't it this is what you get something like that and that's when he um put his hands on me and like started to choke me and everything and then I touch me yeah can we just see your neck do you have any bruising or injuries did he grab both sides like full hand around it can you show me how think it look like like that were you in the bed or are you standing I was in the bed laying down you were laying down when he grabbed you by the neck you I was laying like this and then like you came up for me and like Shook Me Away C me over and then he got up in my face and over me and that's when like grab and how how long were his hands around your neck I don't call not very long like it could have been like a minute were you gasping for breath when you let go no were you having difficulty breathing at all a little bit and and like he he did that [ __ ] to my stuff and then he he he choked me and I didn't want anything worse to happen I don't want him coming back here cuz he like I don't think he' leave me alone I don't want to risk anything that's happening okay real quick um when he took your phone from you were you trying to contact someone for help like police no you weren't trying to call 911 when he took it from you was this after you got choked um before you weren't trying to call 911 no I was just trying to just do whatever to have him leave me alone and not do anything but obviously I so after he were able to like get away from is that how we like sto choking you or I just got away from him and then he how were you able to get away from him did you push off him at all or he he let go he just let go okay cuz I told him to let me go like don't touch me did you leave no I thought if I leave then he like after me okay so when then what what happened next after were your family in the apartment or um we heard knocked at the door and my sister and her boyfriend came in roommate was sleeping correct and then this happened when them two were in the room and then roommate was sleeping no one else was inside the house when this happened um you called your sister um no he send text which we're going to get from in the family group chat and I think he called her or something and we're getting those right now okay and then she was concerned and then she came over with uh stepfather and was he still here at the time or did he leave um he was here for just a very short while with my my sister and Ben and then he left you guys just shared a couple words and then he left so when he let go of you you guys were still both in your room or did you separate from him and went elsewhere where in the room standing or I was done bad just sitting at the start and he was standing facing around I thought he was going to like just more [ __ ] C with me again my sister so after he was pacing that's when he contacted your sister in the group chat it was it was before like early on that was like the first things I didn't pay attention to the time cuz I just like I'm really tired I was tired I not to have to sleep so I didn't want to deal with anything I just go to sleep I'm sure the other officer already already asked for your name and everything can you just provide that for me again so um I think just so he knows it um he was through your phone right is that why he got mad is that the started okay but he was already like um and is he on medication for anxiety uh yeah um did is he still taking it I know and he was on medication for a depression and I think it's like something being off when do you know last time he took his meds but I know he's still taking his anxiety medic I don't know the whole thing about the text actually like corroborates her side of it though because that seems like I don't want to say a valid reason but like that would explain if he has impulse issues and then off real you know so he went on to her phone while she was sleeping and forwarded screenshots of her text messages to family members which is why from her phone or he sent them to himself and then from her phone oh from her phone to them and the it's basically a conversation between her and another male and the male is Proposition her for like sex or and she says basically my boyfriend is coming the night night I can't he says well when can we do it and she answers back like like tomorrow when I get off the work or something like that um but they all family members said like he's super paranoid he's thought he's she was cheating on him since they started dating so he could have been spot on the entire time or he could be paranoid and have created the text messages himself and I was just going to say if he had phone I guess it would depend on what time it was too cuz if it was like sometime in the middle of the night that she's randomly texting or it looks like random texts are coming from her phone right right he could have been the one sending them all along oh for sure to the other guys like um fur delusion or whatever um he's going in there with her I'm going to go in with him do you want to hang on to this for a second though until we get done oh for sure when and I know this is frustrating for you all these questions but this is the investig investigation part um when he had in his hand what was he saying I know you said he was waving it around like that did he ever go like that to you like Point okay at you okay when he you said he went towards you a little bit right kind of like walked back and forth pacing like you said to us what was he doing with the box cter at that point was he waving it still or just pacing with it and just moving it or whatever I think you might have said that down at some point I don't I don't know in his b and did he say he was going to hurt you with the box cutter or in general no not that what was he saying I don't I honestly like was trying to turn him out and I shut down I did want him to do anything to me I did want him I like I was trying not to wake up my roommate I was trying not to do anything that would make it escalate the situation more than it was already do you think his intent when he was walking around was to um harm you with the box cutter or look for something else to cut I don't know it could have been both what what do what do you think by his actions you think he was trying to hurt you with the box cutter I don't I don't think so but I like I was afraid that it could have be a possibility I didn't know I don't know what he's capable of after seeing what he did I didn't want it to be me next okay aside from tonight has he ever used a weapon against you or threatened you with a weapon no has he ever threatened to kill you you have do you have any children or any pets in the hole not my has a bunny has a bunny has he threatened to kill pets anything like that okay um do you think that he's capable of killing you okay all right like if he wanted to he would hurt me sh like like you want this so like this is what you want this is what you like um stand here are you sure okay so I don't know if the other officer told you already but he's already been taken to custody we found him at his dad's house I believe in Venice so he's in custody you're going to be safe for tonight does he have to your apartment yeah okay so we need to if you want to yeah if you want to call Schwab have him see if he'll willingly turn over the key we'll have to do some type of property receipt or property exchange for that he now did he have sorry he's going to be transported to the Sarasota County jail so Venice is is Venice Police Department is driving him up here officer Schwab is meeting them at the jail and is going to interview him there did he say anything pardon did he say anything we haven't done interview or anything with him yet to like the person who took him I I don't believe so but they the the officers that technically took him into custody are from a different department they're just acting on our behalf so we we don't have direct communication with them but officer Schwab who you talked to before is going to do a full interview with him at the jail do you know if he keeps keys on his like car key ring yeah I know he has one the gold one and I think he had red one that he I think he just has a gold one on his okay um gold one okay so he's in custody now I have some paperwork for you and we're going to do something together to make sure you have adequate resources and as much information as you need going forward okay hi Mr Phillips yes hi I'm Lauren I work for the Sarasota Police Department how are you I'm doing fine okay um I'm going to ask you a few questions before we do that because you're in handcuffs and detained I'm going to read you your Miranda warning okay you have the right to remain silent having these right might these rights in mind do you wish to talk to us now yes okay so um leave it open-ended what do you have any idea why we're here and why you're here I have a pretty good idea but I haven't been told okay would you like to share that with me I'm assuming it has to do with Luda Copa okay so would you like to tell me about what happened tonight um basically I found out she was cheating on me I woke her up um um so this all stemmed from you found out she was cheating on you yes okay yeah that probably was really exciting I can imagine how long have you guys been together um I think we like three and a half months maybe three and a half months okay so still kind of okay do you often um from my understanding you guys don't live at her apartment together do you just stay over each other's frequently um off and on like you know sometimes I'll be there for 3 or 4 days at a time but um okay you know I don't not permanently I don't okay okay good um so you're right that is obviously why we're all here right now um going back to what you told me and if if I say misspeak anything please correct me I don't want to put words in your mouth or anything like that so you said you you found out that she was cheating on you how did you how were you able to find that out oh uh you know went through her phone when she was sleeping you know the usual yeah do you guys usually like share passwords to your phones and that sort of thing so it's kind of a normal thing to be able to access each other's pH I hadn't you know checked for a while cuz you know I trusting her you know um I just it was a bad night um I decided to go through it when she was sleeping forgot to delete something yeah that's do you remember if it's okay if you don't remember but do you remember around what time that initial kind of happened 12:30 1 maybe 12:30 or I'm not I'm not exactly sure that's okay around that time that's fine that's fine so you said so after you found out was it immediately after that you said you kind of shook her no I I waited about 5 minutes I I got dressed um I turned the light on um and then I I got on the bed shook her you know woke her up you know obviously she was Dazed you know I put the phone in her face um so okay and that was when it when it started then um can you describe to me I know it's hard you know obviously I can't have you show me how you did it right now but can you describe how the the way that you shook her to wake crab I mean I probably shouldn't but I mean I I just it sounds where was she at this time she she's in bed she laying down yeah she was asleep okay when you grabbed her by the neck was she did you grab her by the front of the neck did you grab her anywhere else no do you remember it's okay if you don't remember but do you remember if you used both of your hands when you grabbed her neck area or just one um if you don't remember you know it was kind of you know adrenaline flowing I was very pretty upset that's understandable okay um so you were able to to wake her up you said she was kind of um not startled but like Dazed yeah she took probably 30 45 seconds to really realize you know the situation and you had her phone still at that time and showed her messages is that correct um I think I had I had taken a picture of uh uh the deleted messages with my phone and it might have been with my phone or her phone but I had you know somebody's phone you know showing her in the face like you know what is this the the messages that you had found yes okay so you were showing her those and and what happened after that I just asked her what is this about who is this you know um I think I said I I you know I [ __ ] I [ __ ] knew it you know I was right to you know be paranoid and all that that kind of thing so okay and then you know she just playing it off okay um did she say anything to you after you confronted her or anything specific that you remember um she said she didn't do anything it was it wasn't what it looked like um something along those lines you probably have to ask her know I wouldn't remember I don't know okay that's okay I just didn't know if you remembered any exact phrases or anything that she had said um so after that you mentioned before that you were you had ripped apart like teddy bear animal I got her a giant squish M or whatever like one of those $40 ones or whatever and you know okay what was the purpose of you doing that or did you have a purpose when you were doing that I I felt hurt and I know she liked it you know so she hurt me so I destroyed the the stuff animal okay do you sorry go ahead I don't mean to interrupt no no no no that's it okay do you recall if you um broke or destroyed anything else while you were there no clothing shirt I don't know if it was her shirt I was you know I would wear it from time to time but yeah it was a black shirt with like red red design on it and you also did that with the box cutter yeah I sliced with the box cutter okay um see so you you used the Box you ripped open the squish M and dumped the the stuff in I put the stuff around ripped the shirt and then what happened after that uh she she had like a just to you know just I was pissed off okay if I'm being honest okay did anything else happened after that no okay her sister and her uh sister's boyfriend came over okay yeah they mentioned something that either you or someone somehow shared the messages that she had been oh yeah yeah um I had I got on her phone this is before I woken her up when I you know I found everything I had actually sent him to her family um oh okay the her messages with another person to just to like show them what she had her what she had done also I mean it really poor taste like I even after you know I had left the the property or whatever I really regret doing that but CU her her parents are yeah okay um has anything like this ever happened between you and her in the past I mean I've been aggressive with her before um you know just kind of playing around in a way um okay I think the other night um I kind of I might have grabbed her arm you know more strongly than she would have wished okay was that not not tonight not part of this incident there was another New Year it was new year so it was last two nights ago something something like that okay New Year's Eve you know when the pineapple dropped or whatever oh okay were were you guys also at her apartment when that happened no we were on Main Street you were on Main Street yeah she she was strolling far away from me and I caught up to her and I kind of you know grabbed her arm and kind of put it you know in that way that couples you know walk with her your arms like uh you know like I can't show you like locked together yeah like wrap my arm around aggressively like okay um so other than that has anything else happened between you guys physical physically or verbally uh verbally yeah I mean verbally I I I've said some things to her uh physically I don't know if you're talking um sexually but uh I'm seeing you talking you know not not that okay um have you ever been arrested for domestic violence or any other crimes or anything like that okay all right um is there anything that I didn't ask you about that you think would be important for us to know about what happened today or any other time I mean no it's okay all right so you obviously you're in handcuffs we're in the Sarasota County jail right now we under arrest um I think we're probably going to have at least two charges once we start writing everything up and getting your paperwork done officer swab he's going to be the primary officer writing up the case and writing up your charges we'll be able to let you know exactly what those are the um staff here once you get processed in will be able to let you know more about the process moving forward you're probably going to at least be here until first appearance in the morning though which I think is around 8 or 9:00 a.m. I figured that so okay all right thank you for your cooperation I appreciate it okay I have nothing to lose so that's whatever we will we're going to switch handcuffs you have op