Man accused of biting, choking girlfriend

A 24-year-old Odessa man was arrested Saturday afternoon after his girlfriend told police he bit, choked and squeezed her before ultimately threatening her with a knife.

According to an Odessa PoliceDepartment report, dispatchers received a 911 call about a disturbance in the 400 block of East 17th Street shortly before noon Saturday.

When they arrived, a 24-year-old woman told them she and her boyfriend, Joel Ricardo Lopez-Muniz, 24, began arguing after she found messages on his phone from an ex-girlfriend, the report stated.

During the argument, the woman said Lopez-Muniz grabbed her by the neck and pushed her onto his bed at one point and forced her back inside after she went outside to wait on her mom to pick her up.

According to the report, the woman said Lopez-Muniz grabbed her phone and while fighting over it, he put his arms around her and squeezed. She also said he bit both of her legs and choked her.

The woman told the officers that after Lopez-Muniz’s mom and aunt separated the two of them, he grabbed a long, skinny kitchen knife and threatened her with it, prompting his aunt to get on top of her to protect her, the report stated.

Lopez-Muniz’s family confirmed he exhibited a knife during the assault and officers found injuries that were consistent with the woman’s story, the report stated.

Lopez-Muniz was booked into the Ector County jail on suspicion of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon/family violence, a second-degree felony. He was released Monday after posting a $50,000 surety bond.