Vernal man accused of pushing a female against the wall, causing the baby to hit his head
| by Travis Uresk | February 23rd, 2026 |
(Vernal, Ut. 2/18/26) At around 5 PM, Vernal City Officers responded to a report of a domestic where a female told dispatch her boyfriend choked her, and took the car. She also reported that a door had been broken while she was holding their baby.
The suspect, 43-year-old Justin Joseph Fosmire, left before officers arrived, and she was unsure where he went.
Police arrived at the residence and met the female, who was holding a child just over a year old. The female told the officers that they had been drinking alcohol when the incident occurred. She told the officers she and her boyfriend were arguing when Justin got angry and came at her.
She stated that he grabbed her by the neck and pushed her against the wall, but stopped when their son started crying after hitting his head on the wall.
The officer could see red marks on the female’s neck and chest area. It also appeared that the right side of her neck was red, though it was not very distinguishable due to the lighting and her olive-colored skin. Even though she was grabbed by her neck, it did not obstruct her airway, and she did not lose consciousness, though the risks were present.
She pointed to the area of her neck that Justin grabbed, which was the middle and left, and believed he used his right hand. She also pointed to the area on the toddler's head that hit the wall, saying that she did not feel anything and the child has a “hard head.”
The female allowed the officer to feel around the child's head, where the mother pointed to where he hit his head on the wall, but the officer couldn't feel anything unusual. He noticed that the child didn't cry or wince when he felt around his head.
An officer asked the female about the broken doors, and she pointed them out to the police, clarifying that they had been broken a couple of weeks prior, after Justin got angry. She also pointed out to the officers a marijuana dispensary bottle, a small pipe, lighters, and some loose marijuana on a table in the kitchen, stating that it was Justin's. Those items were photographed and seized.
The female stated that they both had drunk a couple of beers earlier, and the officer stated, “She didn’t look or appear to be intoxicated, though I could smell the odor of alcohol on her breath.”
The female also mentioned that after being choked, the baby hit his head on the wall. She told Justin she was going to call the police. She stated that Justin apologized to their baby for what happened and then left.
While Sgt. Watt was talking to the female, assisting officers located Justin parked in a parking lot in the vehicle he had left the residence in. The officers made contact with Justin and detained him during the investigation.
One of the officers noticed a small scratch on Justin's nose and a red mark next to one of his eyes and asked him about the marks. Justin said his girlfriend caused the marks when she was poking at him.
Later, Sgt. Watt met with Justin at the jail and wanted to interview him about the incident. The scratch on the left side of his nose and the red mark by his right eye were photographed, and Justin agreed to tell the officer his side of the story.
During the interview, Justin confirmed that they started arguing while she was holding the baby, over Justin not fixing things in the apartment, and his being lazy. Justin stated that the female began yelling at him, and they came at each other; her hands were in his face, but not aggressively. He then said he grabbed the keys to get out of the situation and left the apartment.
Justin also mentioned that she had done this before, when she accused him of choking her while they were in California, but the charges got dropped because he did not do anything.
Justin admitted that the marijuana and paraphernalia were his, and he has had a California Medical Marijuana card and was working on getting his Utah card. The officer asked whether he had a physical copy of a California card, but he did not. Sgt. Watt checked with dispatch to see if Justin had a Utah Medical Marijuana card, but no record was found.
Sgt. Watt asked Justin if he was on probation, and he stated that he was on pre-trial probation with Uintah County, which included a no alcohol clause. Justin admitted to having one beer, doing a portable breath test earlier when first arrested, which tested positive for alcohol at a .05 BrAC.
Based on the information, police identified Justin Fosmire as the predominant aggressor in this incident.
Criminal Record
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