SAN ANTONIO – A “jealous boyfriend” is accused of choking his girlfriend so severely that she had difficulty speaking after the alleged assault.
Lawrence Okonkwo, 33, was arrested after allegedly assaulting his 30-year-old girlfriend Friday in a hotel room in the 5700 block of Industry Park Drive. He was charged with assault on family by choking or strangulation.
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The two were in a hotel room when Okonkwo became upset that the woman was getting ready for work, according to an affidavit.
He grabbed a rag and “started forcefully wiping the makeup off of her face," the affidavit states.
Okonkwo grabbed her by the neck, forced her into the bathroom and held her against the door, making it difficult for her to breathe, according to the affidavit.
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He let her go and briefly left the room before the victim called the police.
When he returned, he yelled, threw her cell phone on the ground, grabbed her in a “forceful hug” and kissed her, according to the affidavit.
The hotel manager knocked on the door because the assault could be heard from outside the hotel room.
Okonkwo talked to the manager at the door, the affidavit states, and then “returned angry.”
He threw the woman on the bed and began choking her to the point where she was “unable to breathe, felt dizzy and lightheaded, and felt like she was about to pass out," the affidavit states.
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He let go when she said she would leave the room with him, the affidavit states.
Police arrived as the couple went outside, but out of fear, the victim told officers she had been choked after they released Okonkwo, the affidavit states.
She allegedly was afraid of an assault if Okonkwo wasn’t arrested while still at the location.
She told police she previously fled to a shelter to escape Okonkwo but he found her, therefore making her “feel unsafe at any shelter,” the affidavit states.
The couple had been dating since October.
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She told police he was “a jealous boyfriend throughout their relationship” and recently became violent, the affidavit states.
The woman had difficulty swallowing and speaking after the incident, according to the affidavit.