MISHAWAKA — A Mishawaka man who was stabbed at Home2 Suites by Hilton on Friday is accused of domestic battery and strangulation.
The Mishawaka Police Department responded to 211 E. Day Road around 2:30 a.m. Jan. 10 following the report of a stabbing. While officers found that Washington DiCaprio, 24, suffered from a “not serious” stab wound in the hip, the department said in a press release that it discovered that DiCaprio and a 21-year-old woman were involved in a domestic altercation.
When officers arrived at the hotel’s fourth floor in search of the man and woman, a young child answered the door to the hotel room and a responding officer said it sounded like the girl said her mom was hurt, a St. Joseph County deputy prosecutor said in a probable cause affidavit. Another officer located the woman near the lobby bathrooms and told the officer that she was not injured and that she and DiCaprio had a verbal argument, the affidavit said.
Officers found DiCaprio in a bathroom with drops of blood on the collar of his hoodie, the prosecutor said. He also told officers he and the woman had a verbal argument, the affidavit said.
As police detained DiCaprio and the woman, the woman looked at an officer and mouthed “help,” the probable cause affidavit said. After taking her out of eyeshot from DiCaprio, the woman whispered to the officer that she didn’t want to be near DiCaprio, the prosecutor said. The officer assessed that she looked scared, the prosecutor said in the affidavit.
The woman told the officer that DiCaprio struck and strangled her and that she stabbed him because she was afraid he was going to kill her, the affidavit said. After being transported to St. Joseph Regional Medical Center, she also told a nurse that DiCaprio punched her in the neck, chest and sides and dragged her by her hair, the prosecutor said. The woman told a detective that DiCaprio becomes aggressive when he takes his non-prescription drugs, the affidavit said.
The detective spoke with DiCaprio, who said it was a “little argument” that started when the woman woke him up, the prosecutor said. He denied hitting the woman but said the argument got physical in the hallway and he pulled her by her hair to get her back in the room, the affidavit said. He said his hands were on her neck and he held her against the wall, but she never had any issues breathing, the probable cause affidavit said. DiCaprio also said he did get on top of her and choked her, but that it started with her on top and strangling him and he reversed it, the prosecutor said.
DiCaprio is accused of five charges from the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s office, which they filed on Jan. 11, including:
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Domestic battery resulting in a bodily injury, a level five felony
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Strangulation, a level six felony
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Intimidation, a level six felony
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Domestic battery, a level six felony
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Domestic battery, a Class A misdemeanor
The prosecution argues that DiCaprio is not eligible for a pre-trial release because of his prior conviction for resisting law enforcement, a prior conviction for domestic battery with another victim and that the woman in this incident answered “yes” to five of the 11 questions on the Danger Assessment for Law Enforcement, which is used to identify victims at the highest risk of intimate partner homicide and near-lethal assault.
Email Tribune staff writer Camille Sarabia at csarabia@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Woman argues self-defense after stabbing man accused of domestic battery