6ICK7ERO Tattoo Shop operator Walter Avellano Florencio, 29, was arrested by police on charges of assault and battery, strangulation, and disturbing the peace.
Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho imposed a $20,000 cash bail on the defendant who was represented by Assistant Public Defender Emily Thomsen at the hearing. Assistant Attorney General Dejon Redd appeared for the government.
After the hearing, Florencio was remanded to the custody of the Department of Corrections, and was ordered to return to court for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 17 at 10 a.m. and for an arraignment on March 6 at 9 a.m.
According to the victim, she caught Florencio sending messages to other girls. She said when she asked Florencio about it, “he denied everything and got angry.”
She said Florencio shoved and pushed her away, and kicked her twice in the leg.
She also told police that Florencio tried to strangle her. He then gripped her hair multiple times, dragged her down to the ground, and slapped her repeatedly, she said.
Florencio, in a freely given statement to the police, said on Feb. 11 at around 4 a.m. he and his wife got into an argument about him messaging girls on social media.
He said after settling the argument they went back to sleep. Later when they woke up, he decided to watch a movie with his son, because his wife was working, and she offered them some money for the movie.
He said he and his son watched a movie then bought dinner and went home.
Later, when he tried to leave their house, his wife held him back, Florencio said.
He said he pushed her away, and pulled her hair so she would move away from the door so he could leave.
Florencio said when he tried to go to the restroom to get away from her, she kept following him while pulling his shirt to stop him.
He said he shoved her and opened the screen door, not knowing she would still follow him. He said the screen door scratched her feet.
Police said the couple’s 10-year-old son told the Division of Youth Services that he saw his “dad push mom.”
A responding police officer observed that Florencio’s wife “had a bruise on her throat, a red bump under her left eye, scratch on her back by her right shoulder, and her right ankle was bleeding.” Moreover, “the right side of her face was swollen….”
