Police: Man struck woman with diaper bag as children watched
A Las Vegas man has been charged with felony child abuse after police allege he struck a woman with a diaper bag as two children sat just feet away.
Juan R. Rubio, 30, was booked into the San Miguel County Detention Center on Sept. 4, charged with abuse of a child (for placing a child in a dangerous situation), a third-degree felony, and one count of misdemeanor aggravated battery.
According to a statement of probable cause filed in San Miguel Magistrate Court, just before 1 a.m. Sept. 4, Las Vegas Police received a call about a disturbance at a residence in the 200 block of Commerce Street. The caller stated they could hear a couple arguing, as well as lots of banging.
Police arrived to find Rubio sitting outside the residence. Inside, officers spoke with a woman sitting on a couch with two children, a 2-year-old and an infant. Police found several objects scattered around the living room, and a broken plate on the floor. The woman also had a bump above her left eye, which police described as “significant.”
The woman told police that she and Rubio had been quarreling, but said their argument never turned physical. She said she’d hit her head on the entertainment center.
Rubio told officers they’d been arguing because the woman had locked him out of the home for about three hours. He told police he did not strike her, but said he’d kicked some items toward her. However, Rubio eventually admitted to picking up a diaper bag and striking the woman with it.
When police asked the woman about the diaper bag, she admitted Rubio had hit her with it, and that both children had been sitting on the nearby couch when she was struck. Police inspected the diaper bag, finding several shampoo bottles inside.
According to police, after being detained, Rubio told them he was already facing charges related to the woman, and that he “did not need this.”
In a pending case from July, Rubio was charged with felony breaking and entering, and misdemeanor criminal damage to property. Police allege he forced his way into a home where the woman was changing the infant’s diaper, and that Rubio refused to leave.
Rubio also has several previous felony convictions, including distribution of a controlled substance, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a controlled substance.
At a Sept. 4 hearing, Judge Melanie Rivera set Rubio’s bond at $3,000, and ordered that he have no contact with the woman he’s accused of hitting.
Rubio was released from SMCDC on Sept. 6, after posting bond. Rubio is due in Magistrate Court 10 a.m. Sept. 12 for an arraignment hearing.
