Father charged with child abuse following early-morning break-in

Domonic M. Swan, 24, of Las Vegas, was arrested and booked into the San Miguel County Detention Center, charged with third-degree felony abuse of a child; fourth-degree felony breaking and entering; and fourth-degree felony criminal damage to property.

According to a statement of probable cause filed in San Miguel Magistrate Court, upon entering the home, officers located Swan in a bedroom, bleeding from a “significant” cut on the bridge of his nose.

The infant’s mother, and another witness who was in the home, told police that they’d been waiting for a third friend to arrive when Swan showed up uninvited and intoxicated.

The women told officers Swan broke the front window and entered the home without permission. Both women then ran to a bedroom, where the child was sleeping and locked themselves in the room, but they said Swan “busted” the door open and forced his way into the room. They said Swan then attempted to take the child from a playpen.

The child’s mother said that while trying to take the child, Swan kicked a television, causing the screen to shatter, and that he also broke a table in the living room.

One of the women said that, while they were in the kitchen, Swan slammed his head into the refrigerator, which resulted in the cut on his nose.

In the probable cause statement, officers note a “pool of blood” in front of the refrigerator, and a television with a shattered screen.

The child’s mother told officers that Swan had never hit her, and that he often “hurts himself instead of hurting others.”

Paramedics treated Swan for the cut on his nose, and according to police, Swan said, “I beat myself up.” He was later transported to Alta Vista Regional Hospital.

At an Oct. 24 hearing, Judge Melanie Rivera set Swan’s bond at $5,000, unsecured, citing that the court found no prior criminal history. Swan was released from SMCDC later in the day.

He is scheduled to appear in Magistrate Court on Dec. 5 for an arraignment hearing.