Troopers: man assaults girlfriend

LAKES COMMUNITY — A man woke his girlfriend by throwing a pen at her and shouting for her to write her will because she was going to die, the woman told Alaska State Troopers.

Instead, troopers arrested Brendan Carpenter, 46, and charged him with one count of second-degree assault and two counts of third-degree assault, court records show. He remained in Goose Creek Correctional Center Wednesday evening on $10,000 cash or corporate bail with a court-appointed third-party custody requirement.

Carpenter told troopers he came home from a local tavern sometime before 5 a.m., July 25, according to an affidavit written by trooper Ricky Sawyer. Apparently irate that he had to walk because his car was missing, Carpenter accused his girlfriend of spying on him and said he’d choked her with his hands, then told troopers they had talked shortly before troopers had arrived.

The girlfriend “stated she was in bed when her live-in boyfriend … got home,” Sawyer wrote. The woman “stated that Carpenter threw a pen at her telling her to write out her will because she was about to die.”

Carpenter then allegedly ripped the sheets off the bed, pinned the woman’s arms under his legs, grabbed her throat and began choking her. Carpenter choked her for about 15 seconds, then covered her mouth with his hand and allowed her to breathe through her nose, and told her she was going to answer some questions, according to the affidavit.

Carpenter let the woman up to go to the bathroom, at which point troopers say she grabbed her phone, retreated into the bathroom, and called 911.

Court officials arraigned Carpenter Monday in Superior Court at the Palmer courthouse after a Friday grand jury indictment.

Second-degree assault is a class B felony punishable on conviction by up to 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to $100,000. Third-degree assault is a class C felony punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to $50,000. If convicted, Carpenter could face up to 20 years in prison and $200,000 in fines depending on which sentencing guidelines a judge decides to emphasize and how the sentence is structured.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com or on Twitter @reporterbriano.