Las Cruces man accused of choking woman, threatening her with knife during domestic dispute
Chris Joe Apodaca, 51, was arrested after police say he choked and threatened a woman with a knife inside an East University Avenue apartment.
Police say a 51-year-old Las Cruces man choked a woman and swung a knife within inches of her face during an argument Wednesday evening.
Damien Willis, Organ Mountain News
LAS CRUCES - A Las Cruces man is accused of slapping, choking and threatening a woman with a knife during a violent domestic dispute Wednesday evening, according to police and court records.
Chris Joe Apodaca, 51, was arrested by Las Cruces police and booked into the Doña Ana County Detention Center on multiple charges that include aggravated battery against a household member (strangulation or suffocation), aggravated assault against a household member (deadly weapon) and battery against a household member.
Officers were dispatched about 5:07 p.m. Oct. 22 to an apartment at 3245 E. University Ave. in response to reports of a disturbance. When police arrived, they found a woman waiting across the street. She told officers that Apodaca had slapped her several times during an argument that began the previous night and continued by text message through the day.
According to the criminal complaint, the woman showed redness on her face and marks on her neck. She told police Apodaca grabbed her throat with both hands, applying pressure for 15 to 20 seconds until she struggled to breathe. She said he later picked up a kitchen knife with a silver blade and orange handle and swung it within inches of her face while shouting.
Investigators said cell-phone video recorded during the incident showed Apodaca striking the woman and waving the knife. Detective Kenneth Davis with the Las Cruces Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division filed the complaint Thursday in Doña Ana County Magistrate Court.
Apodaca was booked without bond and remained at the detention center pending his first court appearance.
The allegations against Apodaca are contained in court records and have not yet been proven at trial.
Damien Willis is founder and editor of Organ Mountain News. If you have a personal story to share or a lead we should follow up on, reach out at OrganMountainNews@gmail.com or connect with him on X at @damienwillis.
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