An Artesia man was arrested Friday morning on aggravated assault charges after threatening his girlfriend and a neighbor with a knife in a February incident.
Artesia Police Department officers were dispatched just after midnight Feb. 4 to the Abo Apartments in reference to a 911 hang-up.
There, they made contact with a woman who stated she and her boyfriend, identified as Hilardo “Lalo” Juarez IV, 25, of Artesia, had been arguing about going to the store to purchase cigarettes.
When the woman asked Juarez for her car keys, he reportedly removed a black knife from his sweater pocket and lunged at her. She screamed and turned away from him toward her neighbors’ apartment door, at which point one of the neighbors ran outside while the woman went into their apartment to call 911.
According to the report, the neighbor told police that, when he opened the door, he saw Juarez pointing a knife at the woman. Juarez then “bowed up” to the neighbor while still holding the knife, feinted toward him a few times, then turned and ran to the woman’s car.
The neighbor told police he chased Juarez to the car, at which point Juarez backed up and drove quickly forward at the neighbor before slamming on the brakes, reversing again, and proceeding west down the Abo Apartments alley.
A warrant was subsequently issued for Juarez’s arrest on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault upon a household member with a deadly weapon.
He was arrested Friday morning and arraigned in Artesia Magistrate Court, where he is scheduled to appear March 29 for preliminary examination.
