Berman Jr. Padock Higgins, right, is escorted by a Corrections officer to a courtroom for a bail hearing on Monday.
BERMAN Jr. Padock Higgins is accused of assaulting his girlfriend while he was drunk at their apartment on Saturday, Aug. 24.
Higgins, 25, appeared before Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho on Monday for a bail hearing. Judge Camacho imposed a $10,000 cash bail on the defendant, who was represented by Assistant Public Defender Charlene Brown. Assistant Attorney General Heather Barcinas appeared for the government.
Higgins was remanded to the custody of the Department of Corrections and was ordered to return to court for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 4 at 10 a.m., and for an arraignment on Sept. 16 at 9 a.m.
According to the complaint against Higgins, a responding police officer met with the victim and saw that she was afraid and had red scratches on the left side of her forehead by her left eye.
The officer also observed that clothes were scattered and a cabinet door was on the ground.
The victim requested medical attention and was brought to the hospital, police said.
The victim said prior to the incident, she arrived at the apartment from work at around 9:48 p.m. and saw her boyfriend outside at the back of the apartment. She said she ignored him and went to her room, but Higgins followed her and was “asking for his things.”
She said Higgins was intoxicated with alcohol.
They started arguing and Higgins started throwing her things out of the closet.
She said she felt like he was going to hurt her so she started calling the police.
As she was calling the police, she said Higgins started to punch her multiple times on her head and kept telling her to hang up the phone while trying to take it away from her.
She said Higgins kept punching her until she fell to the ground and the door of her cabinet along with some other things fell on her.
According to the victim, she covered her head and facial area, but Higgins continued to punch her until she lost consciousness.
When she came to, Higgins was already gone, she said.
The next day, at about 4:42 a.m. on Aug. 25, police were again dispatched to the apartment and met a man walking toward the front side of the building’s southern stairway.
An officer called out Higgins’ name. The man said “yes,” and began walking toward the officer, who observed that the man’s shirt matched the description provided in the initial call. The officer asked the man again if he was Berman. The man said yes.
At about 4:46 a.m., Higgins was arrested and transported to Corrections. He was charged with interfering with a domestic violence report, assault and battery, and disturbing the peace.
