Man strikes man in face with hammer during altercation

ST. GEORGE – A man received more of a trick rather than a treat Halloween morning when a St. George man and woman allegedly assaulted him by hitting the man in the face with a hammer and kicking out his teeth after he fell to the ground unconscious.

Robert Peter Mendez, of St. George, Utah, booking photo posted Oct. 31, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s booking, St. George News
Robert Peter Mendez, of St. George, Utah, booking photo posted Oct. 31, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s booking, St. George News

On Saturday, officers responded to an assault on the corner of 300 North and 300 West in St. George around 6:38 a.m., according to a probable cause statement filed by the St. George Police Department in support of the arrest.

After interviewing individuals at the scene, the statement said, police determined that 56-year-old Robert Peter Mendez and 33-year-old Heidi Marie Romine drove to a residence in the area with the intent to cause bodily harm to another man.

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“Heidi admitted to me that her and Robert were going to find (the man) to hurt him and get her pills back from him because he had been hurting her recently,” the arresting officer wrote in the statement.

When the two arrived at the house, the man was allegedly coerced to come out of the house by Romine.

“Once (the man) exited the house,” the arresting officer wrote, “a confrontation occurred between Robert and (the man) while Heidi was yelling for Robert to ‘get him!’”

An eyewitness said when he came outside, he saw the man was standing in the driveway when Mendez approached him with a hammer. Once Mendez got close enough, he struck the man in the face with the hammer near his left eye and nose, according to the probable cause statement.

Heidi Marie Romine, of St. George, Utah, booking photo posted Oct. 31, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s booking, St. George News
Heidi Marie Romine, of St. George, Utah, booking photo posted Oct. 31, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s booking, St. George News

The strike caused the man to lose consciousness and fall to the ground.

“Once (the man) was on the ground and unconscious,” the officer wrote, “Heidi then jumped into the fight and began to kick (the man) repeatedly in his upper body. As Heidi was kicking (the man), it is likely this is where he sustained injuries to his lower face, breaking some teeth.”

According to the statement of probable cause, the man suffered from what appeared to be a broken nose along with other injuries.

Mendez and Romine were arrested and booked into the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility.

Mendez was charged with second-degree felony aggravated assault, while Romine was charged with second-degree felony aggravated assault along with a class B misdemeanor for assault.

Judge John J. Walton, of the 5th District Court, ordered $10,000 bail for Mendez’s release pending trial. He was found indigent by the court during his initial court appearance Monday and will be represented by court-appointed attorney Aric Cramer. He is scheduled to make his next court appearance Nov. 9.

Walton ordered $11,070 bail for Romine’s release pending trial. She was found indigent by the court during her initial court appearance Monday and will be represented by court-appointed attorney Jay Winward. She is scheduled to make her next court appearance Nov. 9.

Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

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Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.

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7 Comments

  • beentheredonethat November 3, 2015 at 8:41 am

    Those pills probably weren’t Flinstones Chewables!

  • ladybugavenger November 3, 2015 at 10:23 am

    What in the world? One moment your chillin at home and the next moment you’re getting the crap beat out of you…..was this random? Was this a bad drug deal?

  • Real Life November 3, 2015 at 11:04 am

    Sound like she really wanted those pills! Such a nice, wholesome couple.

  • ladybugavenger November 3, 2015 at 12:05 pm

    Oh snap! I missed the pill part…. Crazy stuff right there.

  • fun bag November 3, 2015 at 12:15 pm

    scary creepy looking dude, and the other one looks like a tranny. gotta love our local meth heads and pill poppers

  • .... November 4, 2015 at 1:57 am

    Dang Tweekers

  • Common Sense November 4, 2015 at 7:03 am

    Brutal……and the drug tests come back with??? Please keep these psychos off the streets!

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