District Court
Kandiyohi County
* Kevin Ray Wertz, 20, of Willmar, was arraigned Thursday on a felony charge of domestic assault by strangulation for allegedly choking a woman with his hands while the two were arguing.
Unconditional bail was set at $10,000. Conditional bail was allowed at $2,500 provided he have no contact with the woman, be excluded from her home and not use or possess firearms or dangerous weapons. He also faces two misdemeanor charges of domestic assault.
His next appearance is Nov. 24.
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According to the complaint, Willmar police were called around 1 p.m. Tuesday to a home along the 1400 block of Lakeland Drive Northeast. A woman there said anther woman and Wertz had fought, but that he had struck her in self-defense. He had turned himself into law enforcement on an outstanding warrant on other charges.
The woman was interviewed at Rice Memorial Hospital, where she was seeking treatment for a possible concussion. She said they had argued and it turned physical, including that Wertz flung her by her hair and that her head struck the kitchen counter. She also said he strangled her with his hand and restrained her from leaving the home.
The officer did observe injuries on the woman, including a large swollen bump on her forehead and marks on her neck.
In an interview at the jail, Wertz said they argued, that he might have hit her in the face and admitted to grabbing her by the neck.
* David Hernandez, 19, of Willmar, was arraigned Thursday on a felony charge of receiving stolen property for allegedly possessing a stolen vehicle.
Unconditional bail was set at $10,000. Conditional bail was allowed at $1,000. His next appearance is Nov. 24.
According to the complaint, Willmar police received a report of a stolen vehicle around 7:45 a.m. Tuesday along Ella Avenue. A 1994 Ford had been stolen during the early morning hours. The owner believed the keys to the car may have been in the vehicle.
Earlier that morning, around 12:20 a.m. a Kandiyohi County Sheriff's deputy had stopped the same vehicle along state Highway 23. The driver was identified as Hernandez and arrested for driving while impaired, and Joseph Balboa, 23, of Willmar, the passenger, was given a ride to a Willmar residence.
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Balboa was charged last week with a felony charge of receiving stolen property for allegedly possessing a stolen vehicle.
Balboa claimed the car was his, that he was buying it from the owner and that he let Hernandez drive because his license was revoked.
Balboa later met with an officer and claimed he didn't know the car was stolen, that he bought it from a man he didn't know for $200 and a promise to make payments. He said he didn't know the name of the man, but that he met him outside of a liquor store.
