Tri-Citian threatens to kill his girlfriend at rural park. A driver came to her rescue

A Kennewick woman suffered two stress fractures in her back after her boyfriend allegedly punching her with his fist.

The woman later told police she was in so much pain that she didn’t think she could walk away to escape his abuse, according to court documents.

But when Armando Fernandez-Torres threatened to kill her and went for a bat in the back seat of his car at Hover Park, the woman made a run for it, documents said.

A driver passing the rural park southeast of Finley noticed the fleeing woman, stopped her car so the woman could get inside, yelled at Fernandez-Torres and called 911, said police.

Now, Fernandez-Torres, 25, is charged in Benton County Superior Court with first-degree kidnapping and second-degree assault, both with domestic violence allegations.

He pleaded innocent Monday to the charges and has a Sept. 28 trial date.

Bail set at $50,000

Fernandez-Torres was tracked down by Benton County sheriff’s deputies, Kennewick police and U.S. Marshals on July 17, two days after the alleged abuse of his live-in girlfriend.

She had warned police that Fernandez-Torres previously said he would run to Mexico if she ever reported him to the cops, then return at a later time to kill her.

He is locked up in the Benton County jail on $50,000 bail.

The woman said Fernandez-Torres has assaulted her other times during their dating relationship.

But on July 15, Fernandez-Torres was driving them home when he punched his girlfriend several times in the face, court document said. She refused to go inside their house, but Fernandez-Torres allegedly promised not to hurt her anymore.

However, once inside, he kept punching her in the face while calling her obscenities and threatening to kill her, documents said.

He ordered her back into his car. She refused, but gave in when he grabbed her hair.

She later told police she agreed to go with Fernandez-Torres hoping that he would stop assaulting her if she complied with his demands, court documents said.

It was while walking to the car that Fernandez-Torres punched her in the back, documents said.

Begged to go home

Fernandez-Torres drove around the Tri-Cities. Every time he stopped, he ordered her to stay inside the car because no one would help her.

Her cellphone was previously damaged by Fernandez-Torres so she could not call police.

At one point, Fernandez-Torres grabbed a six-pack of beer and a lemonade drink from a gas station. The woman refused to drink the lemonade because she believed he put something in it, so Fernandez-Torres dumped it over her head, court documents said.

He then drove to Hover Park in Benton County, parked the car and fell asleep. The woman was too afraid to leave the car because she did not know where they were and because of the “extreme pain” in her back.

When he woke up, she begged to go home and promised not to call police.

That’s when Fernandez-Torres said he would “kill her right there” and got out to grab his baseball bat, documents said.

He drove off after she was rescued by the stranger. His car was found the next day near Finley, where it ran out of gas.