Richard Kyota was charged with three counts of assault and battery for hitting his girlfriend, Clarita De La Cruz, with a water pitcher full of water, slapping her twice on the face and choking her; one count of assault for threatening to chop her into pieces and one count of malicious mischief for burning her jewelry, shoes and other personal belongings.
According to court records, on September 6, 2009, De La Cruz called the police station saying her boyfriend, Kyota, was beating her up at their shared residence in Ngerbeched.
In her statement to the police, De La Cruz said that at about 3:00 in the morning, her cellphone rang while she and Kyota were sleeping. She turned the phone off because she only had 30 cents airtime remaining.
Kyota, however, became angry and asked who was calling her at that hour. De La Cruz said that it was Norma, but Kyota who was very drunk would not listen to her.
De La Cruz said Kyota took a water pitcher full of water and threw it at her. He then slapped her twice on the face and choked her.
De La Cruz said she managed to escape from Kyota and ran outside the house to hide and call the police.
When Police Officer Caine Tmekei arrived at the victim’s house, he saw that there was a fire burning, and De La Cruz was crying because the fire was currently burning her personal belongings.
Kyota, upon posting bail, was ordered to stay away from De La Cruz. Trial is set on July 15.
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