This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A former professional mixed martial arts fighter is accused of beating his girlfriend and then high-fiving his friends after knocking her to the ground.
In charges filed Friday, police wrote that Samuel Guynn, 33, got into an argument Sept. 7 with his girlfriend at her Cottonwood Heights home. The woman told police that Guynn smashed several items in her apartment and then began punching her in the head. Officers at the apartment found holes in the walls, broken pictures, a broken glass coffee table and broken mirrored closet doors, all worth more than $1,500, police wrote.
The woman went to her next door neighbors home until she saw Guynn taking items from her apartment, police wrote. When she approached him in the parking lot to ask for her house key, Guynn allegedly punched her in the side of the head, knocking her to the ground and causing her to become dizzy and sick to her stomach, police wrote.
A neighbor told police Guynn and his friends then began laughing and giving each other high fives "like it was funny," investigators wrote. The men fled when police arrived, according to court documents.
Guynn was charged with second-degree felony aggravated assault resulting in serious bodily injury and third-degree felony criminal mischief.
Guynn already was awaiting trial on accusations that he punched a man at a New Year's Eve party this year in Salt Lake City, crushing the victim's cheek bone and eye socket into 35 separate bone fragments. The victim in that case has said he had never spoken to Guynn and was punched without warning or provocation. Guynn posted bail about two weeks before the alleged attack in Cottonwood Heights.
According to the MMA website Mixedmartialarts.com, Guynn fought and won two professional matches in 2010.
Twitter: @erinalberty