CHARLOTTE AMALIE — A St. Thomas woman who hit her husband with filled Clorox bottles after he inadvertently mentioned on a telephone call that he was cooking food for himself was arrested on domestic violence charges.
Yvonnette Saintilus, 43, was arrested and charged with simple assault as an act of domestic violence, and delaying and obstructing justice, the Virgin Islands Police Department said.
Saintilus’ arrest follows a report of an assault on November 13 when the victim, her husband, made a report at the Mariel C. Newton Command, according to the VIPD.
According to the probable cause fact sheet, the victim informed police that after returning home from church on November 13, he asked his wife, Yvonnette Saintilus, to make him food as he was hungry. Saintilus refused and told him that she was tired.
The male victim said that as he began cooking something for himself, he received a phone call from his mechanic who asked him to come over to his shop in regards to a matter concerning his vehicle. He told his mechanic that he could not leave at that moment as he was hungry and was in the middle of cooking.
Upon hearing this, Saintilus asked her husband, “Why did you tell him that? Does he not know that you have a wife cooking for you?” The victim then told Saintilus, “Because he knows you don’t; they all know.”
Saintilus got upset and started shouting at the victim, hitting him on the chest. He said he walked out of the kitchen and sat on the living room couch with his head down. Saintilus then picked up two filled Clorox bottles and hit him in the back of the head, according to the probable cause fact sheet. The victim got up off the couch and walked to the children’s room where his wife followed him and continued to hit him.
Saintilus then threatened to call the police on her husband to tell them that it was he who had beaten her up instead. After hearing this, the victim decided to take the children out of the house and traveled to the police station to give his statement about what had transpired. Officers spoke to his two minor children who confirmed what their father told police.
An Investigation revealed that the victim had multiple scratches on his left arm and shoulder and an abrasion to the right side of his chest. When police met with Saintilus, she claimed that she struck her husband first with her cellphone case. There were no visible injuries on Saintilus nor did she report any.
Upon being advised that she would be arrested, Saintlius became irate. She was ordered several times to stand up and place her hands behind her back but she did not comply. She continuously pulled away her hands and refused to be handcuffed to be taken into custody.
After a brief struggle she was handcuffed with her hands in front of her, police said. Saintilus then delayed and obstructed justice by dropping herself to the ground and refusing to stand up to be taken into custody, the sworn VIPD affidavit says. She was transported to the Adam Command Station and was placed under arrest.
In court on Monday, a judge ruled that Saintilus be allowed to post an unsecured bond of $2,000 as bail. She is barred from leaving the St. Thomas-St. John district without the court’s written permission and must report to the Office of Probation once a week.
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