Local youth soccer club program director charged with felony domestic assault

IDAHO FALLS – A local youth soccer club program director was charged after police say he attacked a woman, causing her to have severe injuries to her face.

Ramon Palacios-Gonzalez, 42, was charged with felony domestic battery inflicting traumatic injury.

Palacios-Gonzalez is listed as the Recreational Program Director for the local boys and girls Palacios Futbol Club in Idaho Falls, according to its website as of Tuesday night.

EastIdahoNews.com reached out to Palacios-Gonzalez, who declined to comment on the investigation. We also reached out to the Palacios Futbol Club, and have not received a response.

On Jan. 1, around 4:47 a.m., Idaho Falls Police were called to a home after a report of a domestic disturbance.

According to court documents, officers detained Palacios-Gonzalez when they arrived at the home. They contacted the victim, who reportedly had “severe facial injuries.”

Police reports say the victim had “large swelling over her right eye, which was approximately the size of a golf ball.”

She could not open her right eye, and her left eye was “extremely red” and reportedly could only be opened about halfway.

Officers say the victim’s ear was bloody with “visible punctures and bleeding down her neck and onto her chest.”

According to police, the left side of her face had multiple abrasions and bruises forming on her cheek and chin, along with redness on her chest, which “appeared to be from pressure.”

The victim told officers the two were at a party at the home to celebrate the New Year when they began fighting in a bedroom.

Court documents say Palacios-Gonzalez began striking the victim with his hands and elbows and head-butted her in the face.

The victim showed officers a large cushion in the corner of the room where she said she fell. According to officers, there were drops of blood on the wall in the corner behind the cushion.

Officers say they spoke to a minor in the home, who said they heard “banging sounds”, and went upstairs, where they heard the victim yelling for help.

Two other minors in the home said they also heard the fight, and when they came to the bedroom to help, they saw the victim “all beat up” and Palacios-Gonzalez sitting in the room.

The victim told police she believed Palacios-Gonzalez had broken her phone, so she used one of the minor’s phones to call police.

While talking to police, the victim reportedly was “very distraught about (Palacios-Gonzalez) being handcuffed to be detained” and told officers several times that she did not want him charged or taken to jail.

When officers spoke to Palacios-Gonzalez, he reportedly claimed the victim “inflicted the injuries to herself to try to get him in trouble.”

According to court documents, Palacios-Gonzalez claimed the victim was trying to leave, but he did not want her to leave when she was intoxicated.

Officers do not say if the victim appeared intoxicated, but do say that Palacios-Gonzalez seemed “intoxicated and smelled strongly of alcohol.”

Palacios-Gonzalez told officers he was holding one of the minors when he was trying to stop the victim from leaving. He then says the victim hit her head on the wall at the top of the stairs. He later told officers there would be a mark on the wall from it.

When officers looked, they saw chipped paint that appeared to be old and a “very small droplet of blood.” The victim told officers that it “would have gotten there while she ran from the room.”

Palacios-Gonzalez told officers the victim hurt her eye by hitting her head into the storage closet door on her own and said there was a dent to prove it.

Officers say there was a dent in the closet door with black hair in it, but “the door was a very thin material, and the dent did not fully break or crack the door,” so they didn’t believe that Palacios-Gonzalez’s claims were true.

The victim said there were many dents in the doors and walls from the minors living in the home.

According to police reports, Palacios-Gonzalez told officers he got the victim back into the bedroom, and she “laid on the cushion in the corner scratching her face, and that is how her ear got bloody.”

When asked about the broken phone, Palacios-Gonzalez initially said he did not break it, but later said he broke it because the victim was trying to record him.

He also said the victim hit him on the cheek near his left eye. According to officers, he had a small mark on his cheekbone near his left eye, along with drops of blood on the front of his sweatshirt, on his shoe, and “all over the left sleeve of his sweatshirt.”

Palacios-Gonzalez was arrested and booked into the Bonneville County Jail with a bond of $10,000. He later posted bail and was released on Jan. 2.

A no-contact order was issued for the victim, but a motion to terminate the no-contact order was later filed. It is unclear if District Judge Brendon Taylor has approved it or not.

Palacios-Gonzalez is expected to appear for a continued preliminary hearing on Jan. 30. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison.

Though Palacios-Gonzalez has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.