A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputy accused of assaulting a woman, lighting her hair on fire and threatening her with an off-duty weapon appeared in court Tuesday in Fullerton.
Alejandro Flores, 33, was in a romantic relationship with the woman and lived with her and a child, described as a relative under 2 years old, when the alleged assaults occurred, the Orange County District Attorney's Office said in a statement.
Flores' arraignment was set for Tuesday but his hearing was delayed until Aug. 3.
Following an argument about the child's pacifier on June 28, Flores allegedly pushed the woman in to a wall in their Buena Park home, hit her and grabbed her neck, causing her to fall to the ground, the DA's office said. He also allegedly dragged her, held her over the stove and turned on the gas burner, lighting her hair on fire.
After the woman's hair was extinguished, Flores allegedly threatened to hurt her if she called the police and took away her cellphone, throwing it at her leg hard enough to hurt her, prosecutors said. He is also accused of turning up the volume on the television when she attempted to scream and using his off-duty firearm to threaten her.
Flores was charged with three counts of domestic battery with corporal injury, two counts of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, one count of aggravated assault, one count of criminal threats, one count of dissuading a witness by force or threat, and one count of false imprisonment by menace or violence, all felony charges.
If convicted, Flores faces up to 25 years and eight months in a state prison.
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An Orange County Superior Court clerk said information regarding an attorney for Flores was not immediately available, and a representative for the sheriff's department could not be reached.
