2 suspected DV attacks leave one Tri-Cities woman with knife wounds, another choked

A Tri-Cities man pleaded innocent this week to charges he climbed through an open window into his ex-girlfriend’s Pasco bedroom and attacked her.

It was one of two serious domestic violence incidents in the city within a few days last week, according to police reports.

The first was on Oct. 9 when Benjamin Garcia, 25, is accused of driving to his ex-girlfriend’s home on Ninth Avenue and creeping into her room shortly before 6 a.m., according to court documents.

He smashed her cellphone, pushed her into the windowsill and finally choked her until she blacked out, said the documents. He grabbed $40 from her dresser before leaving.

She was able to call police as he was driving away, and officers stopped his van nearby.

Police said they found $40 in his wallet, dirt on her windowsill and the broken phone. She also had bruises on her neck.

Garcia denied breaking in and said she had a knife to his neck earlier and he’d woken up to her hitting him with a pillow and blanket.

He’s charged in Franklin County Superior Court with first-degree burglary and second-degree assault and is being held in lieu of $100,000 in the Franklin County jail.

▪ Then, on Oct. 14, Pasco police were called to a home on the 300 block of South 26th Avenue after someone reported a stabbing.

When officers arrived, they found Jose Garza, 25, with blood on his arms, hands and clothing.

Garza’s sister had cuts on her right shoulder and the right side of her head. When police asked who had attacked her, she said she had fallen down, according to court documents.

She was visiting the home where Garza lived with his parents, he told police. The two had “both drank a little alcohol” and got into an argument.

That escalated into a shouting match and, as he got angrier, he said he blacked out.

When he came to, he said he had a folding knife in his hand. He went outside and threw it into the yard. He told police it was her blood on him.

He was booked into the Franklin County jail on a first-degree assault charge. Bail is set at $150,000.

This story was originally published October 19, 2022 at 11:48 AM.