GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – A Green Bay man is facing multiple charges for allegedly forcing his way into a home and attacking his ex-girlfriend.
25-year-old Steven Ray Willard is facing six counts, including three felonies for strangulation and suffocation, false imprisonment and intimidation of a victim. All 6 charges are an act of domestic abuse and are repeaters.
According to the criminal complaint, Green Bay police were called for a male/female physical disturbance in the 1700 block of Beech Tree Drive on January 27, 2016.
Officers arrived to find a visibly upset woman who could hardly speak as she tried to tell the cops her story. After catching her breath, the alleged victim explained that her ex-boyfriend physically assaulted her and smashed her cell phone before leaving in an unknown direction.
The woman showed officers her damaged phone, along with several marks on her body and a mark around her neck.
The victim told officers that Steven and she had been dating for the past year, with him living at that house for the last 7 month. But they recently broke up, and Willard began moving out the day before.
She says that Willard showed up at her house around 4:30 p.m. and tried getting in through the garage. At the time, the victim was sitting in the living room with her daughters when she noticed Steven walking up the street and then around the house looking for a way in.
Willard managed to get into the garage, but wasn’t able to enter through the door which he began to pound on. He began yelling at her to open the door, or he would get her in trouble. She let him inside, but then walked away from him into the kitchen. Steven yelled, “Want to wreck my life? Want to wreck my life?”
She nearly had her cell phone ripped away by Willard. Then the victim tried to leave out the front door, but he pulled her back in. Willard then pushed her on the couch and ripped her sweatshirt in an attempt to get the phone. The victim’s two young daughters jumped on top of the couch and began smacking Willard in the head, trying to get him off their mom.
Willard did manage to get the phone, walked into the kitchen and said, “You ain’t getting the phone. You want to wreck my life.” The victim ordered one of the daughters to call police.
The woman tried walking down the hall away from Willard, but he approached her from behind, lifted her up and slammed her to the ground. After this, Willard went into her bedroom to pack more of his stuff.
While lying on the ground, the woman told her daughters to go to the neighbor’s house because she feared for their safety. She then got up, went into the bedroom and asked for her phone back.
According to the complaint, Willard turned and yelled, “You’re not going to wreck my @#$%^&* life. If you’re going to wreck my life I’m going to take yours.” He then threw the victim onto the bed, put both his hands on her neck and started to forcefully push down. The victim told officers she couldn’t breathe, getting dizzy and feeling light headed. Willard then got off of her, stood by the end of the bed and smashed her phone over his knee.
When the victim made it to the front door, she saw a neighbor and yelled, “Help!” However, she struggled to do so because her throat was still sore from being choked.
Willard then went out of the home through the back, but had no idea where he would be going.
Authorities eventually arrested Willard and placed him in the Brown County Jail on February 10. If convicted on all counts, Willard faces nearly 40 years in prison.
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