$250,000 Bond for Parolee who Beat and Strangled Girlfriend
32 year-old Sundance Hernandez is in the Missoula County Jail being held on both $75,000 bond for violating his parole, and another consecutive $250,000 bond for allegedly beating and strangling his girlfriend.
Deputy County Attorney Caitlin Williams asked originally asked Judge Alex Beal for another $75,000 bond, in addition to his probation hold and related the facts of the case.
“In a matter of weeks this defendant has strangled his partner two times, threatened her with a bat and restricted her from leaving his residence,” said Williams. “He has previous felony theft and escape charges and was only released from prison in August to begin his suspended sentence.”
Williams recounted the most recent incident that occurred on Wednesday.
“In this most recent case, the defendant kept the victim from leaving his room and strangled her, which caused her to urinate on herself,” she said. “He punched her in the face causing injury to her jaw and also bit her. The victim was eventually able to get free and the defendant fled. He was apprehended by the U.S. Marshal’s Office and the Missoula Police Department later that day. He admitted to restraining the victim in the room, and she has reported receiving at least three calls from the defendant from jail since he has been in custody. The victim further reports that the defendant has been using illicit drugs.”
Judge Beal said the $75,000 bond requested by Ms. Williams was ‘nowhere near enough’, so he increased the bond to $250,000 and remanded Hernandez back to the jail. His next court appearance is scheduled for October 14.