LOGAN — A 24-year-old man has confessed to severely beating, choking and biting a woman while preventing her from leaving a Hyrum residence last month. Cesar Gutierrez Lopez has been in the Cache County Jail since March 7 when law enforcement responded to a domestic dispute.
According to court records, Gutierrez Lopez appeared Monday in Logan’s 1st District Court. He waived his right to a fair trial and accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to two counts of aggravated assault producing loss of consciousness, amended to third-degree felonies. As part of the agreement, prosecutors dismissed a remaining charge of public intoxication, a class C misdemeanor.
According to charging documents, Cache County sheriff’s deputies responded to the incident just before 5 p.m. The victim told investigators Gutierrez Lopez began drinking around 2 p.m. before becoming verbally and physically abusive.
When the woman stated she wanted to leave, Gutierrez Lopez slapped, pulled and pushed her to the floor to stop her. The victim reported that she tried to push him away but was unsuccessful. She told deputies Gutierrez Lopez strangled her twice, squeezing her neck until she lost her vision and believed she lost consciousness.
During the altercation, the defendant reportedly slammed the woman’s head against a wall, bit her fingers once and bit her face three times while calling her derogatory names. The arresting deputy noted the victim was found standing outside her residence with swelling around her eyes, jaw and neck. Gutierrez Lopez sustained scratches on his face and chest, which deputies said were consistent with the victim defending herself.
Deputies reported Gutierrez Lopez appeared disoriented, smelled of alcohol and registered a 0.168 on a preliminary breath test. He also showed no remorse for what had happened.
According to court records, Gutierrez Lopez remains in jail without bail. He is scheduled to be sentenced June 10 and could face up to 10 years in prison.