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VINEYARD — A woman was found in her home with second-degree burns and her fiancé was arrested after concerned friends called police because the woman had not shown up to work for two days.
Fernando Felipe Flores, 36, of Orem, was booked into the Utah County Jail for investigation of aggravated assault resulting in serious injury and violating a protective order.
On Tuesday, Utah County sheriff's deputies responded to the woman's residence in Vineyard after her friends asked them to conduct a welfare check.
"The friends also reported that an unknown person had the victim's phone and was texting them back in a way that made them believe it was not her," according to a police booking affidavit.
The deputies attempted to call, text and knock on the woman's door but received no answer. At that point, deputies say one of the friends "became impatient and entered the residence through a back door," then began screaming for help, according to the affidavit.
The woman was found lying in a bathtub full of water.
"The victim's face was swollen to the point she could barely open one of her eyes and the other was swollen shut," the affidavit states
The woman also had second-degree burns on her legs, face and arms, as well as "several dark purple bruises" on her face and neck, according to deputies. Additional burns were found on her back when medical personnel assisted her out of the tub.
"The entire kitchen and bathroom floors where both covered with water. Blood spatter was observed throughout residence on the walls of the front room, bedroom and bathroom," the affidavit states.
The woman was taken to a local hospital and then immediately flown by medical helicopter to the University of Utah Burn Center in Salt Lake City to be treated for second-degree burns and a broken eye socket.
Flores was found by police hiding in the kitchen under a blanket. On the stove next to him were two boiling pots of water, according to deputies. He told police he and the woman had gotten into an argument after a night of drinking and that he punched her about three times and sprayed her with "scalding hot water from the kitchen faucet causing the burns," the arrest report states.
Flores was charged with aggravated assault and aggravated kidnapping in 4th District Court in January for a domestic violence incident with a woman in an Utah County apartment, according to court records. As the investigation continued, he was charged a couple of weeks later with aggravated kidnapping while committing unlawful detention and aggravated assault for another domestic violence-related incident that happened in November, charging documents state.
Both prior criminal cases were dismissed in April, according to court records. Court records do not indicate whether the same woman was the victim in each incident.
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
