This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A Ballard man was charged with assaulting a woman and throwing her raccoon against a wall.
The 41-year-old man was charged Friday in 8th District Court with domestic violence assault, a third-degree felony, and cruelty to an animal, a class-B misdemeanor.
The evening of July 14 an officer arrived at a home near 1900 N. 1500 East, where a woman told him that she and the man had been in a fight, according to the probable cause statement. The man had called her by his ex-wife's name, and when she asked him about that, he allegedly grabbed her by her arms and threw her into a wall, according to the statement.
She collapsed to the floor and after they continued to argue, the woman's pet raccoon hissed at the man, so he grabbed the animal by its collar and threw it into a back room, hitting the wall, the statement adds.
The woman eventually left, went to her ex-husband's motor home and was taken to the emergency room, according to the statement. She told investigators that she suffered two or three broken ribs.
The man was booked into Uintah County Jail.
Utah law allows people to keep raccoons so long as they have a permit.
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