An Idaho man accused of trapping his girlfriend outside the driver’s-side door of his car and dragging her along the ground — while repeatedly punching her in the face — then trying to run her over faces up to 10 years in prison after Teton County deputies tricked the man into turning himself in for arrest.
Yair Guarneros, born in 2005, made his first court appearance Monday on a felony aggravated assault charge and misdemeanor charges of domestic battery and failure to stop for an accident with damages.
The allegations stem from an altercation the couple had near the trailhead on Fox Creek Canyon Road near Alta, Wyoming, on Saturday evening, according to an affidavit of probable cause written by Teton County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Kevin Espinoza.
The couple, who have been involved with each other for four years, had driven separate vehicles to the trailhead and began arguing. What their confrontation was about isn’t detailed in the affidavit.
The argument turned physical when Guarneros tried to drive off with the woman blocking his door open, the affidavit says.
“Guarneros placed the vehicle in drive, causing the door to close on (her), pinning her between the door and the vehicle,” Espinoza wrote.
Rather than stop and release the woman from the door, Guarneros kept driving while also punching her through the open vehicle window, according to the affidavit.
“As this occurred, she fell forward and was dragged by the vehicle while also being held by Guarneros,” the affidavit says. “Guarneros then came to a stop and began punching (her), who fought back in an attempt to defend herself.”
Dragged And Charged
The alleged assault didn’t stop there, Espinoza wrote.
After Guarneros released the woman and she was walking back to her vehicle, he allegedly tried to run her over, backing up into her car.
“As she attempted to open her driver’s door, Guarneros backed his vehicle into her and fled the scene,” the affidavit says.
He was gone by the time deputies arrived at about 7:52 p.m., where they talked with the woman about what happened and observed numerous injuries consistent with her story, Espinoza wrote.
“Her clothing was covered in dirt, consistent with her having been dragged by the vehicle,” the affidavit says. “(She) showed both deputies where she had been standing where Guarneros backed into her vehicle.
“The skid marks left by Guarneros indicated that he had attempted to run her over by accelerating directly at her in reverse.”
Setting The Trap
While talking with the woman, she told deputies that she believed her keys had fallen into Guarneros’ vehicle while being dragged.
The deputies used that to lure the man back to the scene, having his girlfriend call him and ask him to come back with her keys.
“Without letting Guarneros know that law enforcement had been called, Deputy Espinoza had (the woman) ask Guarneros to return her keys to the scene,” the affidavit says.
After initially denying having the keys, he later found them and agreed to bring them back to her.
“Deputies had Guarneros return to the scene to drop the keys off,” the affidavit says. “At approximately 2200 hours (10 p.m.), Guarneros was back at the scene placing the keys on top of (her) vehicle without knowing deputies were waiting for him.”
Guarneros, who has a home address in Idaho Falls and a post office box in Jackson, is being held on a $10,000 cash or surety bond with a preliminary hearing set for Nov. 4 in Teton County Circuit Court.
If convicted of felony aggravated assault, he could get a maximum of 10 years in prison, a fine up to $10,000, or both.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
