She met her ex to tie up loose ends. A night of terror followed, say Benton deputies

A woman who believed her life was in danger on New Year’s Eve got away from her ex by scrambling inside a rural Benton County house.

The surprised homeowners called 911 to report the intruder — injured and covered in blood.

Earlier that night, Rodolfo Alfaro-Lopez beat her so severely she suffered a broken nose and broken hand, damaged teeth, a cut lip and other bruising to her face and arms, say investigators.

But she managed to get away from him and hide.

Prosecutors say Alfaro-Lopez, who has a history of domestic violence-related assault, threatened to kill the woman’s family and set her car on fire if she didn’t return to him.

But the 33-year-old woman refused to reveal her hiding spot in some tall grass and ran to the nearby home when he drove off.

Now, Alfaro-Lopez, 31, is charged in Benton County Superior Court with first-degree kidnapping, second-degree assault and unlawful gun possession.

The assault charge includes the aggravating circumstance of excessive injuries.

Couple dated for 3 months

Alfaro-Lopez was arrested the following morning after Benton County Sheriff’s deputies tracked him down to a different Benton City house. He tried to run during a traffic stop, but was caught by Deputy Dave Frederick and his police dog Sable.

Court documents show that Alfaro-Lopez and the woman had dated for about three months.

The married woman told deputies she met Alfaro-Lopez when he sold her fentanyl. She had recently ended the relationship because he’d made comments about killing her and her family.

But she agreed to meet Alfaro-Lopez on Dec. 31 at the Conoco gas station in Benton City so she could return his property.

She was already in the parking lot when Alfaro-Lopez was dropped off by a friend. He got into the passenger side of her car and immediately punched her in the face, then ordered her to drive, documents said.

The woman later told deputies she had trouble driving because she had been hit in the eye, but Alfaro-Lopez said he would shoot her in the head if she didn’t keep going, court documents said.

He told her where to make turns and said they were going out to the “boonies,” as he continued to punch and call her derogatory names, documents said. He allegedly brought up her family while pointing a TEC-9 pistol at her, and tried to light her jeans and hair on fire with a lighter.

The victim eventually stopped the car on Webber Canyon Road because of the blood in her eyes. She was ordered into the backseat and Alfaro-Lopez took over driving.

No answer when she knocked

At one point, Alfaro-Lopez told her to get out as the car was moving, but then ordered her to stay because another car was approaching, court documents said. She kept the back door cracked open and eventually jumped out when Alfaro-Lopez allegedly dropped his gun on the floorboard.

She hid in the tall grass to avoid the headlights, then ran in the opposite direction as Alfaro-Lopez drove down a driveway, documents said.

She knocked on the front door of a house on Southwest Anderson Road, southwest of Richland in the Horse Heaven Hills, but no one answered. After discovering the door was unlocked, she went inside.

Prosecutors noted that after paramedics arrived, the woman was afraid to leave and get in the ambulance, even with deputies there to protect her.

Had active warrant from DOC

Alfaro-Lopez has a long list of aliases, including different spellings for his first and last name, and the nickname “Beavis X” or “X Beavis,” according to online records.

He has at least four felony convictions in Washington for third-degree assault with domestic violence allegations, along with unlawful gun possession and felony violation of a no-contact order.

He also has five gross misdemeanor convictions for order violations and four convictions for assault with domestic violence.

Alfaro-Lopez has been on community supervision since 2016 after his release from the state Department of Corrections.

He escaped from supervision at least eight times over the three years, and had an active warrant at the time of his arrest for failing to report to DOC since Oct. 2.