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PLEASANT GROVE — A Pleasant Grove man who police say has violated a protective order a couple of times is now accused of trying to kill his estranged wife using a pair of vise grips.
Ronald Lynn Pace, 61, was charged Thursday in 4th District Court with attempted murder and aggravated robbery, first-degree felonies; violating a protective order, a third-degree felony; and interfering with an arresting officer, a class B misdemeanor.
Just after midnight Sunday, a woman called 911 while confronting Pace, who was letting the air out of the tires on her car, according to charging documents. The woman had an active protective order against Pace at the time.
Just as she gave emergency dispatchers her address, Pace attacked her, "repeatedly striking (her) with a pair of vise grips," the charges state.
The phone was knocked out of the woman's hand as Pace continued to hit her, according to the charges. He also allegedly picked up her phone and threw it to the ground.
But the phone was not disconnected, and dispatchers could hear as the woman "yelled out for help, screaming that (Pace) was trying to kill her. Over the course of approximately five minutes, (he) repeatedly beats (her) with the vise grips, verbally berates her, throws the vise grips down and punches (her) with a closed fist several times, picks the vise grips up and continues beating (the woman)," the charges allege.
Police say several officers were needed to take Pace into custody as he resisted arrest. After he was placed in an officer's patrol car by himself, he was heard saying, "I'm going to kill you" while taking about the woman, according to the charges.
Court records state that Pace was arrested on Aug. 21 and charged the next day in Pleasant Grove Justice Court with a domestic violence-related assault, a class B misdemeanor. A judge issued a protective order as part of the case, according to court records. He violated the order three days later, however, and again on Sept. 6, according to court records, and was charged in two separate cases of violating a protective order.
Domestic violence resources
Help for people in abusive relationships can be found by contacting:
- Utah Domestic Violence Coalition: Utah's confidential statewide, 24-hour domestic violence hotline at 1-800-897-LINK (5465)
- YWCA Women in Jeopardy program: 801-537-8600
- Utah's statewide child abuse and neglect hotline: 1-855-323-DCFS (3237)
- National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233
