By Coco Wang
WOODLAND – A man allegedly physically and verbally abused his girlfriend in front of their 23-month-old boy.
In a preliminary hearing on Friday, Tariq Dawan was charged with felony infliction of corporal injury, felony assault by force, and felony false imprisonment with violence after allegedly pushing, choking, threatening, and screaming at his girlfriend in front of their 23-month-old son.
The alleged victim, with a distressed voice, reluctantly identified the defendant in court. She testified that she and the defendant had never lived together. On Jan. 29, 2020, she stated that she had paid for a Lyft for the defendant to her one-bedroom apartment in West Sacramento, where she and their one-year-old son lived. Since her bed was quite small, she offered to sleep on the couch for the night so that the defendant could spend time with their son, who was already sleeping on the bed.
At around 10 am on Jan. 30, 2020, the alleged victim claimed that she was woken up in her living room by the defendant on speakerphone with his sister-in-law, wishing her a happy birthday. The alleged victim claimed that, since she did not care for the defendant’s family members due to prior encounters, she told the defendant she did not wish the hear their conversation—which allegedly provoked the defendant, who hung up the phone. The defendant then allegedly yelled, “Why? For what?” toward the alleged victim. To which the alleged victim claimed that she replied, “You 
know why.”
Soon, the defendant allegedly started to come up close to her and yelled at her to shut up as he pushed her down. As the alleged victim testified, the defendant used his open palm to push her face, which resulted in her nose bleeding immediately. The defendant allegedly pushed her down a second time, after she attempted to stand up, in the same manner as the first push. The alleged victim claimed that their son was in the living room the entire time when this happened.
The alleged victim stated that she went to her bedroom after cleaning her nose and the defendant followed into her bedroom. Soon, the defendant allegedly started to choke her with both hands for a full minute while banging her head against the closet door twice. In the meantime, she said the defendant yelled, “I can kill you right now!”
After the defendant let go of her, the alleged victim expressed her desperation and declared that she was going to the police, which further infuriated the defendant and he started to choke her a second time while banging her head against the wall. The alleged victim claimed that she felt like she was about to die at that point.
When the defendant finished choking her, the alleged victim stated that she went to the kitchen, followed by the defendant who then threw her on the ground. Again, the defendant allegedly declared that he would kill her. According to the witness, after the defendant let her go, he wanted her to find his phone and said, “B***h you’re gonna find my phone,” while he shoved her to the corner of the kitchen.
She said that at this point their son was in the kitchen crying, having witnessed their fight. The alleged victim claimed that she soon picked up her son, sat on the couch, and tried to calm him down.
Once again, the defendant allegedly threatened her, claiming that he would kill her in front of their son and then turn himself into the police while having his mother raise their son. The alleged victim claimed that she was scared for her life and that she believed the defendant would truly carry out his words into actions. She said that after the defendant finished making the threat, he lit up a cigarette and started smoking.
Without a working phone, the alleged victim claimed that she wanted to visit the police department in person. The first time she attempted to go outside, the defendant allegedly followed her out and yelling, “I’ll kill you right now!” To calm the defendant down, she claimed that she told the defendant she was going to see a friend from work and go to welfare when, in fact, she desired to go to the police station.
She grabbed the stroller and her son and headed straight to the police station.
On another day after this incident, the alleged victim was inside her apartment when she heard a knock on the door; it was the defendant knocking and she did not open the door. The defendant then allegedly entered her apartment through a window. The witness claimed that the defendant went straight to her closet and grabbed their son’s toys, clothing, and car seat and left with their son. Soon, the police arrived and took the defendant into custody.
During cross-examination, the alleged victim testified that, although the defendant had assaulted her before, it had never been this extreme. The defense attorney, James Bradford, inquired about the defendant’s phone. The alleged victim explained that it was she who bought the phone for the defendant because she needed a way to contact him regarding their son. Meanwhile, her own phone could only function with WiFi access and was unable to make calls.
The alleged victim claimed that she had not thrown away the defendant’s phone, despite in the trash being where his phone was found.
The arraignment date is set on March 13, 2020, in Department 11.
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