SALT LAKE CITY — A West Jordan man was charged Thursday with firing a gun near his girlfriend’s head and choking her in two separate incidents of domestic violence.
Charles Scott Blunt, 28, is charged in two cases in 3rd District Court.
On Dec. 30, Blunt became angry with his live-in girlfriend, “placed his hands around her neck” and choked her, according to charging documents. “(She) stated that the defendant also tried to suffocate her because she was screaming.”
The man stopped attacking after the woman “went quiet,” according to the charges. She then sent photos of her injuries to her father, and tried to call police. But Blunt took her phone away before she could make the call and broke it, the charges state.
For that incident, Blunt was charged with aggravated assault, a third-degree felony, and damaging a phone, a class A misdemeanor.
After he was removed from the scene, the woman told Blunt not to come back to the house, according to a police affidavit.
But on Jan. 1, the woman reported that she awoke to find Blunt in the kitchen with a handgun, according to a second set of charging documents. Police say Blunt was angry with the woman for reporting the earlier incident. She attempted to call police, but he allegedly took her phone from her.
Blunt then threatened to shoot himself, and then handed the gun to her and told her to shoot him, according to charging documents. The woman threw the gun and started running for the door.
Blunt grabbed her, retrieved the gun and placed it to the side of her head, according to the charges.
“The defendant pulled the trigger and the bullet grazed the side of (her) head. (She) had injuries to her ear. Her ear was ringing and had a wound to the side of her head,” the charges state.
The woman was then able to run to a neighbor’s house where she pounded on the door with her ear bleeding and told them to call 911.
He was charged in that incident with two counts of aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony; discharge of a firearm, a second-degree felony; possession of a firearm by a restricted person and obstructing justice, third-degree felonies.
Blunt was convicted of assault and witness tampering in another domestic violence-related incident in 2016, according to court records. Blunt became angry at another woman who was his girlfriend at the time while at a fast-food restaurant. He pinched the woman and hit her with his hat before making her get out of his car and driving off, the charges state. After the woman called police, Blunt texted her and told her to call police back and drop it. He was sentenced to a year of probation.
Help for people in abusive relationships can be found by contacting the YWCA’s Women in Jeopardy program at 801-537-8600, or the confidential statewide Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-897-LINK (5465). Resources are also available online at udvc.org.