A male is accused of choking a female in the cab of a vehicle

By Travis Uresk

2/27/24

1/25/24

Duchesne County, Ut.- At approximately 5:40 pm, Deputy Borrelli responded to a domestic violence call in rural Duchesne County. While en route, dispatch said 37-year-old Jay Joseph Draper walked away from the area.

When Deputy Borrelli arrived, he met with the complainant/victim, who stated Jay had walked off with his dogs and then called someone to pick him up when she told him the police were called. Cpl Meeks and Deputy Smith drove around the area, attempting to locate Jay with no luck.

The victim stated Jay had been drinking all afternoon when he received a phone call from work saying he needed to work in the morning. She then began to drive home, and when close to their home, Jay started to yell and argue with the victim. Jay took the keys out of the ignition when reaching the dirt road.

When the vehicle came to a stop, the victim put the vehicle in park and tried to calm Jay down. She convinced him to give her the keys and started driving home.

Once in the driveway, Jay became aggravated and began yelling at the victim while in the vehicle. The victim said Jay had re-positioned himself on the passenger seat, so he was kneeling. Jay leaned toward the victim and grabbed both of her hands, pinning them on her lap. Using one hand to hold both her hands, Jay used his forearm to press against the victim's neck.

Jay then threatened the victim, saying she couldn't leave and everything was her fault. The victim stated she had a hard time breathing but was able to get one hand free, pushed Jay off of her, and got out of the vehicle.

Deputy Borrelli observed the victim's neck and saw redness on both sides of her upper neck.

The victim told Jay she would call the police, so Jay grabbed both of the victim's phones. After more arguing, this time about who owned the phones, Jay gave the victim one of her phones back and then took all of the charging cables out of the vehicles.

The victim then called 911, and while on the phone with dispatch, Jay kept yelling at the victim, saying she wasn't really calling the police and that if she did, he was going to make sure she got in trouble. The victim told Jay she did call the police, and they were on their way. Jay then took 3 of his dogs and started walking down the road.

The victim was placed in the back of the patrol vehicle with the door left open to fill out a witness statement. While doing this, Jay called the victim. Jay was heard yelling he was the one that was attacked. Deputy Borrelli stated Jay sounded like he was intoxicated and was unable to speak a complete sentence.

When the victim tried to talk, Jay would talk over her and continue to yell. The victim asked where he was, but he ignored the question, repeating himself until he hung up the phone. Jay then called again. When the victim answered, Jay yelled to stop calling him because it was over between them. Jay hung up again.

Deputy Borrelli tried to call Jay, but he would not answer.

On 1/26/24, at around 4:00 pm, Deputy Borrelli received a call from Deputy Cox saying he was with Jay. Jay told Deputy Cox that nothing had happened and that he hadn't done anything to the victim. Deputy Cox called the victim, and she still claims Jay pressed his forearm against her throat.

Deputy Cox was instructed to place Jay under arrest and transport him to the Duchesne County Jail.

Jay was transported and booked into the Duchesne County jail for aggravated assault and intoxication.