An Arcadia man could spend more than 16 years in prison after being charged with beating and kidnapping the mother of his two children in a September incident caught on his neighbor’s home security camera, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Robert Michael Mendez, 27, has been charged with three counts of injuring a girlfriend or child’s parent and one count each of kidnapping and criminal threats, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced. The complaint also includes an allegation that he inflicted great bodily injury under circumstances involving domestic violence.
Arcadia police said they learned about the Sept. 29 incident after receiving a link the next day to a doorbell camera footage that showed a man dragging away a screaming woman apparently knocking on a neighbor’s door for help.
The man repeatedly hits her before dragging her across the street, the video showed. At one point, he’s heard saying, “Get up or I’ll kill you.”
A neighbor who did not want to be identified told KTLA he was shocked to see the late-night attack recorded on his home’s security camera. He provided the footage to police the next morning, he said.
Officers later identified the man in the recording as Mendez, who lived in the 1500 block of S. Santa Anita Avenue. They responded to the residence and found the woman inside with significant injuries that required hospitalization, according to the Police Department.
Investigators determined that the victim had been held against her will inside the home since the previous night, the department said. Officers arrested Mendez, who was also at the residence, without incident, according to police.
Police described Mendez as the victim’s estranged boyfriend. They have two children together, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Mendez remain in jail on $330,00 bail, inmate records show. He was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday but court officials said his arraignment was postponed to Thursday.
Arcadia police continue to investigate the incident.
