JASON Fagalpaag, 32, has been arrested for beating up and choking a senior citizen he calls “Dad.”
He was charged with assault and battery, assault with a dangerous weapon, strangulation, senior citizen physical abuse, and disturbing the peace.
At a bail hearing on Wednesday, Fagalpaag appeared before Associate Judge Wesley Bogdan who imposed a $10,000 cash bail on the defendant.
The judge appointed Chief Public Defender Douglas Hartig to represent the defendant while Assistant Attorney General Heather Barcinas appeared for the government.
After the hearing, the defendant was remanded to the custody of the Department of Corrections. He was ordered to return to court on March 19 at 9 a.m. for preliminary hearing and on March 23 at 9 a.m. for his arraignment.
Fagalpaag, in an interview with a police investigator, stated that he and the victim argued over the phone over some family issues.
He accused the victim of going to his in-laws’ house and talking bad about the defendant.
He said his wife asked him to talk to the victim.
Fagalpaag said he drank beer first before going to the victim’s house. There, he said, he started punching the victim who asked him, “What did I do to you?”
Fagalpaag said he left when the victim’s wife told him that she was calling the police.
Fagalpaag said he does not recall choking the victim, and he does not recall hitting him with a pipe.
“I’m just mad about what he’s saying to people — he should have just come to me,” Fagalpaag told police.
The victim, for his part, told police that on Feb. 4, 2021, he received a call from the defendant, who calls him “Dad,” threatening to kill the victim.
After the phone call, the victim said he fell asleep, but he woke up when he heard the defendant yelling.
“He was already inside our house [in Papago] and he was holding a PVC pipe and hitting the bedroom door with it,” the victim told police.
He said Fagalpaag then came in and hit his arms and elbow with the pipe.
Fagalpaag then pushed the victim down on the floor and began punching him on his forehead and his mouth, causing it to bleed, the victim said.
The victim added that Fagalpaag punched him five or six times then held his neck and squeezed hard.
“He said he [was] gonna kill me and he really tried to kill me,” the victim said, adding that his wife witnessed the assault.
