A Torrington man already accused of brutally beating and disfiguring his ex-girlfriend has been charged with yet another felony, this time on claims he threw his victim’s phone, laptop and guns in a canal while he was on the run.
Andrew Atkinson, 27, was charged Nov. 5 with felony property destruction, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
The charge is in addition to Atkinson’s earlier charges stemming from an alleged crime spree in 2016 involving burglary and strangulation. He’s also accused of what court documents describe as a brutal Aug. 3, 2024, aggravated assault on his ex-girlfriend that left her hospitalized with body-wide bruises and cuts, a collapsed lung and facial disfigurement.
After about eight days of being wanted on the aggravated assault charge, Atkinson turned himself in Aug. 20.
In the newest case of property destruction, an affidavit by Goshen County Sheriff Kory Fleenor says that Atkinson was supposed to return his ex-girlfriend’s belongings to her and didn’t.
He destroyed those things between the day she was hospitalized and the day he turned himself in, alleges another charging document in the file.
“Judge (Nathaniel) Hibben ordered Atkinson to return items that belonged to (his ex-girlfriend) that she stated he had in his possession,” wrote Fleenor in the document, summarizing an Aug. 26 hearing in which the ex-girlfriend sought a protection order against Atkinson.
Those belongings were guns, two laptop computers, one cellphone and an iPad, the sheriff added.
“Atkinson advised the judge that he had destroyed the items already,” Fleenor continued. “He stated he threw them in a canal and then (later) stated he threw them in the trash.”
These things together cost $1,450, the ex-girlfriend told Goshen County Investigator Herb Irons, according to the document.
Growing Tally
The three felony cases against Atkinson that have made it to the felony-level Goshen County District Court include charges punishable together by up to 55 years in prison plus fines, if he’s convicted on them all and sentenced consecutively. Those include two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of strangulation (one of which is punishable by less time in prison since it was charged in 2016 when the penalties were less), one count of child abuse and one count of burglary.
If his recent felony property case makes it to the district court, it could add another potential 10 years to that maximum.
In Early August …
Atkinson’s ex-girlfriend and her child were both taken to the Banner Health emergency room in Wheatland around Aug. 3. But the woman was later transferred to a different hospital for a higher level of care. A Cheyenne Police Department officer interviewed her along with Goshen County Sheriff’s Lt. Herb Irons, the case affidavit says.
The woman said that she and Atkinson were at a party the evening before at Atkinson’s mother’s home in Lingle, Wyoming.
She and Atkinson left the home at about 8 p.m. in a 2023 white Toyota Corolla Cross with Atkinson driving, and the woman and her child together in the back seat, says the affidavit.
They soon parked the vehicle briefly, and he started having a verbal argument with the woman, Irons wrote in the document, adding that Atkinson started pulling her hair and yanking her around.
The affidavit says Atkinson pulled the car over again in a field a short while later and started punching the woman in the face multiple times, then smacked her head with a 9 mm Glock handgun until she lost consciousness.
He strangled her neck with his hands for about 10 seconds, causing her to lose consciousness yet again, Irons wrote.
North, Toward A Barn
When she regained consciousness, she reportedly picked up her toddler, exited the vehicle and tried to run north toward a barn.
She told police she was scared Atkinson was going to kill her.
She tripped twice while running, and Atkinson caught up to her, the document says.
He took their child and started to walk back toward the parked vehicle, wrote Irons in the document. The woman ran back toward him, and he allowed her to hold the child again, the document indicates, though the child’s name is redacted.
At that moment, Atkinson shoved the woman and the child, causing them both to fall to the ground, the affidavit says.
The document says the woman walked back to the car and the trio rode away with Atkinson driving.
He drove to the 7800 block of Road 27 where he again stopped the vehicle and made the woman get out. Then he started to punch and kick her in the face and chest area as she lay on the ground, says the affidavit.
He got into the vehicle and left, headed southbound on Road 27.
The woman stayed on the ground for about 20 seconds until she was sure Atkinson had gone, then she got up and ran into a corn field to the west, making it back to the highway.
Atkinson’s mother intercepted both mother and child and took them to the emergency room, the affidavit says.
Whole Body Bruised And Cut
Irons wrote that the woman sustained a punctured or collapsed lung. Her entire body was bruised and cut, including her feet. She also had two black eyes nearly swollen shut, the deputy added.
The document says the woman’s face was bruised with hematomas and appeared disfigured. She received 15 staples and four sutures to her head from being pistol whipped, says the affidavit.
Medical personnel put a chest tube into the woman’s lung, a result of being kicked in the chest, reportedly.
The child had lacerations to her forehead that were treated and documented, the affidavit says.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
