A Lyons man was charged Sunday after he allegedly attempted to drown his girlfriend over prescription drugs missing from inside her home, police said.
Police were called to the home in the 100 block of Lawton Road after they received a frantic call from a woman who said her boyfriend had tried to kill her several times, according to a release from the Riverside Police Department.
The 53-year-old woman told officers that her boyfriend tried to drown her on three separate occasions in a bathtub located inside her coach house, which he frequently stayed at.
The woman said the two got into a verbal argument around 8:20 p.m. Friday night over prescription drugs that were inside the home, according to the authorities.
The woman left the house to go to a friend’s home and when she returned around 1 a.m. Saturday, the argument over missing prescription Xanax drugs resumed, officials said.
Police said the woman then went upstairs to take a bath and as she was preparing the water and disrobing, the boyfriend opened the door angrily and pushed her into the tub, causing her to fall and injure her tailbone.
The boyfriend then grabbed her by her throat and started to choke her and push her face under the water as the tub continued to fill, police said.
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Police said the man stated “I’m going to kill you” and “You’re going to feel what it’s like to be under water.”
The woman was able to break free after the third attempted drowning and she ran to a neighbor to call police.
The woman was treated on the scene for non-life threatening injuries that were consistent with batter and choking, police said.
Michael Bruner, 60, of the 8000 block of Christie in Lyons, was charged with one count of attempted murder and one count of felony aggravated domestic battery by strangulation, police said.
“The defendant in this case is no stranger to the Riverside Police,” Chief Thomas Weitzel said in a statement.
Weitzel said Bruner was previously arrested on a domestic assault case in 2012 but that the case was later dropped in court after the victim refused to cooperate.
Bruner is a convicted felon in Illinois, California, Colorado and Utah and his convictions include, burglary theft, drugs, forgery and several DUIs, Weitzel said.
