Man’s visit to ex-girlfriend leads to felony charge
An Oak Park man is charged with a felony of interfering with an electronic communication device and misdemeanors after police say he visited his ex-girlfriend and at different times kicked in the door to her apartment, took her cell phone and pulled a wig from her head.
Nicholas B. Mendoza, 27, was arraigned Monday in Ferndale 43rd District Court and released on $5,000 personal bond.
Ferndale police said the suspect was apparently invited or allowed to enter the woman’s Ferndale apartment Saturday before things went bad.
“When the suspect was in the apartment they started arguing and swearing at each other,” said Ferndale police Detective Brendan Moore.
Police said the suspect asked the woman to drive him home and she agreed. However, once he walked outside, she closed and locked the door behind him.
“Apparently, that didn’t sit too well with him and he began pounding on the door,” Moore said. “She described him kicking in the door to the apartment and then grabbing her cell phone from her hand to prevent her from calling 911.”
Taking the cell phone is what led to the charge of interfering with an electronic device communication, which is a two-year felony, police said.
The woman told police that Mendoza pushed and shoved her, demanding she
take him home.
Moore said the woman agreed, believing it would defuse the situation, and the suspect returned her cell phone when she asked him to give it back.
Trouble started again when she was driving him home, said Moore.
She stopped the car on Nine Mile near Livernois and ordered him to get out, police said. After he refused, she got out of the vehicle and started walking until he followed her and forced
her back into the car.
“She drove him to Oak Park but stopped to drop him off at the corner,” instead of his house, Moore said. “He grabbed her keys and threw them out the window.”
The suspect got out of the car, but came back, police said.
“He reached through the driver’s window, grabbed her and pulled off her wig,” Moore said.
Someone called Oak Park police to the scene near Norwood and Kenwood and Ferndale police were notified.
Ferndale officers arrested Mendoza, who admitted arguing with the woman but denied any physical contact with her, police said.
The misdemeanor charges the suspect faces are malicious destruction of property and domestic violence. Under the terms of his bond he is prohibited from any contact with the woman or possessing or purchasing any firearms.
Mendoza is due back in Ferndale court at 1 p.m. April 26.