A Vernal Woman Gets Locked Inside Her bedroom and Gets Beaten And Choked By Her Boyfriend

Posted by Travis Uresk | Feb. 5th, 2023 | Domestic Violence |

By Travis Uresk

2/5/23

Cael Anthony Moore goes to court for this incident on 2/7/23.

Vernal, Ut.- On July 19, 2022, at approximately 1:30 in the morning Vernal City Officers responded to a report of domestic violence in the Silver Pines Apartment Complex in Vernal.

The initial report was that the victim had been beaten by her boyfriend, Cael Anthony Moore, and had been choked by him. Officers arrived on the scene and performed an initial investigation by speaking to both the victim and Cael.

The victim, in this case, was a 17-year-old female who had been living in the apartment with her boyfriend, Cael, for the past month. The victim gave initial officers a statement that she and Cael had been in an argument that night and that he had locked her in a bedroom and had choked her.

Officers took photos of the victim's injuries, including a bruised nose and vertical scratch marks on the victim's neck. These injuries are consistent with defensive scratch marks from the victim trying to remove her assailant's hands from her throat.

Officers also spoke with Cael, who gave a different account of events stating that the victim would often put her own hands on her neck and scratch her neck. With this initial information, officers made sure Cael and the victim were separated and took no additional police action at this time.

Upon arriving at work on July 19, 2022, Detective Collom read the case report regarding this incident. With the information in this case, Detective Collom reached out to the victim's mother and arranged to interview the victim at the Vernal Children's Justice Center.

The victim was interviewed at the CJC later on July 19, 2022. Detective Collom conducted this interview following the NICHD guidelines. During this interview, the victim gave him a timeline of the incident from the night before. The victim advised that she and Cael had been eating dinner on the couch. She said Cael put his plate down to get some water from the kitchen, and during this time, her dog got ahold of some chicken on Cael's plate and ate it.

The victim said this upset Cael, and he chased the dog into one of the bedrooms. The victim said she heard the dog yelp from the other room, where the dog and Cael ended up. The victim said she entered the room and saw Cael strike the dog once and then let the dog go upon seeing the victim enter the room.

The victim said this initiated a fight between her and Cael over his treatment of the dog.

During the argument, the victim said Cael told her to leave the house. The victim said she told Cael she would go to sleep tonight and then leave in the morning. The victim said Cael continued to tell her to leave, and when she tried to leave the main bedroom, Cael shoved her back into the room.

The victim said at this time she went into the closet to get away from Cael. The victim said Cael used the weight of his body to then prevent her from leaving the closet and eventually put a bed frame wedged under the door handle to prevent her from leaving the closet.

The victim said she was eventually able to knock the bed frame away from the door and get out of the closet. She said Cael then forced her face into the ground by grabbing her on the neck and pushing her down. The victim said in the closet. She found a folding blade pocket knife she had in case she needed to protect herself from Cael.

The victim said that during their struggle, he grabbed her hand with the knife and tried forcing her to stab him, so she dropped the knife.

The victim also said Cael pushed her against the wall several times by her throat. She said this all occurred in the main bedroom and its walk-in closet. The victim also stated sometime during the altercation, Cael threw her glasses across the room, causing the lens to crack more than it was, and bent the frames when they were stepped on by one of them during the altercation.

The victim showed him these glasses, which were bent, and there was a large crack in one frame.

Out in the main bedroom, the victim said Cael shoved her down on the bed, placed both his hands around her throat, and squeezed until she said she started to pass out. The victim said once she began to pass out, Cael let go of his hold and began to tell her how much he loved her.

The victim said this upset her, and she began to push Cael off, and he then strangled her again by placing his hands around her throat. The victim said when she was able to get away, she moved into the living room and tried to leave, but Cael would stand in front of the main door and not let her leave. The victim said during this time, Cael had her phone, and she kept telling him to give her phone back.

She said Cael told her no and asked if she would use it to contact the police.

The victim said after a while she was finally able to leave the apartment through the main door.

Following this interview, a search warrant was requested for evidence mentioned by the victim in her interview to be found in the apartment shared by the victim and Cael. This warrant was subsequently granted, and Detective Collom and other Vernal City Detective's went to the apartment to serve the warrant.

Upon contacting Cael at the front door, Detective Collom placed him under arrest with handcuffs behind his back.

Detective Collom read Cael his Miranda rights which he stated he understood. During the interview, Cael admitted to putting the bed frame in front of the closet door in an attempt to keep the victim in there. He stated he felt this was justified because she had attempted to hold a door handle earlier in the night to prevent him from exiting another bedroom.

Cael also admitted to putting his hands around the victim's throats and squeezing hard enough that he could assume it was impairing the victim's ability to breathe. Cael denied ever preventing the victim from contacting the police, hitting the dog, or causing the victim to lose consciousness.

Cael stated he viewed himself as the dominant aggressor in the altercation with the victim and said she is not very strong and he would easily win in a fight.

Moore was transported to the Uintah County Jail to be booked in on charges. During the search warrant executed by other detectives during this interview, evidentiary items of note were located.

Detective Collom’s Statements:

On the closet door, a mark underneath the door knob matched the paint transfer on the bed frame. This mark and paint transfer would be consistent with the bed frame being wedged against the door to prevent the victim from leaving the closet. With this information, Cael Moore was booked into the Uintah County Jail on the following charges;

Aggravated Assault and Domestic Violence due to the victim being over the age of 16yoa and, residing with Cael, and being in a consensual sexual relationship. With this being the case, Cael impeded the breathing and circulation of blood in the victim by applying pressure to the neck and throat of the victim. Due to the victim stating she lost consciousness, this will be charged as a 2nd Degree Felony.

Aggravated Kidnapping due to Cael holding the minor victim against her will for a substantial period of time and without the consent of her parents or legal guardian. This charge is aggravated due to Cael committing the act of kidnapping and acting with intent to inflict bodily injury or terrorize the victim by way of strangulation. This is a 1st Degree Felony.

Criminal Mischief due to Cael intentionally damaging the victim's glasses by throwing them across the room and causing them to be stepped on. This will be charged as a Class B Misdemeanor. -Damage or Interruption of a Communication Device due to Cael keeping the victim's phone from her after asking her if she planned to use it to call the police due to the altercation. This charge will also be a Class B Misdemeanor. All charges will be charged with Domestic violence.

Cael Moore lives in the apartment building next to where the victim will be living with her mother. He has shown through these actions that he intentionally put the victim's life in danger and poses an immediate threat to her well-being. Domestic violence case involving strangulation are known to escalate beyond that point and have a higher likelihood of causing death to the victim.