A Utah FBI agent has been charged for allegedly throwing a woman he lives with to the ground and choking her.
Special Agent Adam Grant Quirk was charged Monday in 3rd District Court with aggravated assault, a third-degree felony.
Quirk, 36, also was charged with criminal mischief and damaging or interrupting a communication device, which are class-B misdemeanors.
No court dates have been set.
On Saturday, the woman Quirk lives with locked herself in the bathroom after he began drinking at his Avenues area home and became belligerent, according to the charges. She also took and hid Quirk's phone "to keep him from doing hurtful things on it while being intoxicated," the charges add.
Quirk demanded that she unlock the door, and when she didn't, he allegedly started throwing her things out the back door, according to the charges. When she opened the door, Quirk allegedly threw her to the floor by her hair and neck and then choked her, the charges add.
"[She] scratched and punched at the defendant. According to [the woman], this cycle happened several times," the charges read. He also allegedly threw her phone on the ground, breaking it, the charges add.
A Salt Lake City police officer noticed "several visible marks/bruises on her neck," as well as a bump on the back of her head and an abrasion on her right hand. The officer also found a broken cellphone in the garbage can.
Quirk was arrested and booked into Salt Lake County jail, but was released on his own recognizance, according to jail records.
He has no prior criminal history, according to a search of Utah court records. If convicted for the aggravated assault charge, he could face up to five years in prison. The misdemeanor charges carry six-month jail terms as their maximum penalties.
mmcfall@sltrib.com
Twitter: @mikeypanda