Police: Local woman arrested after battering man, blowing snot on responding officer

POCATELLO — A Pocatello woman faces felony charges following a domestic battery incident that ended with her blowing snot and blood on an officer, police said.

Ashlyn Jeanette Zazweta, 37, has been charged with domestic battery and assault or battery on certain personnel, both felonies, following an incident on July 15.

Police were dispatched to a home near downtown Pocatello around 8:50 p.m. on July 15 for the report of a physical disturbance between a man and Zazweta, according to police and court records the Idaho State Journal recently obtained.

Officers arrived on scene and spoke to the man, who said that Zazweta was attempting to leave the residence with their 1-month-old child in a vehicle while intoxicated, police said.

The man said that he was able to put his daughter in a car seat so that he could leave in an attempt to diffuse the argument but Zazweta began striking him, hitting him several times in the head and upper body with her phone and her hands, according to the police report.

The man said that Zazweta missed him one time and accidentally struck the child, police said.

After the child was struck, the man said he balled his fist and swung it behind his head, striking Zazweta once in the face resulting in her getting a bloody nose, the report says.

Officers noted the man had several scratches on his back and the right side of his shoulder as well as redness to the right side of his face, police said. The child, though fussy, appeared uninjured, according to the report.

Officers spoke to Zazweta and her story continually changed before she was placed under arrest for domestic battery, police said.

While officers were searching Zazweta in front of a patrol car before taking her to jail, she “abruptly turned her head and blew her nose in my face and hair, getting snot and blood on the right side of my face,” the report says.

Zazweta was then charged, arrested and booked inside the Bannock County Jail in Pocatello.

She appeared in front of 6th District Magistrate Judge David Cousin for an arraignment hearing on July 16, during which her bond was set at $10,000. She posted the bond on July 17 and was released from jail, court records show.

Zazweta is due back in court for a preliminary hearing where prosecutors will attempt to prove there is enough evidence against her to elevate the case from the magistrate to district court level on July 29.

If convicted of the two felony charges filed against her, she faces up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.