Officer Has His Hands Full With Two Cases of Men Allegedly Threatening to Kill Former Girlfriends

West Des Moines Police Officer Nathan Ludwig had a full day Sunday investigating two reports of alleged violence against women.

In the first, a 19-year-old man is wanted on suspicion of forgery and harassment after his 20-year-old former girlfriend and current roommate alleged he called her, questioned her about where she had been the night before and ended the conversation by saying, “I just want you to know that I am going to find you and kill you tonight.”

Police had confiscated the man’s shotgun a week before after he had allegedly threatened to kill her and he had retrieved it on Friday.

The woman told the police she thinks the threat is credible because he has told her in the past that he plans to kill her, and she made arrangements to stay at a friend’s house that night.

The forgery charge stems from the apparent theft of a 1989 Chevrolet that the former boyfriend’s parents bought for the woman in 2009 and registered in her name. Both the car and its title were gone when she returned home from work. The woman told police she thinks her former boyfriend forged her signature so his parents could sell the vehicle.

Police were unable to locate the man.

Former Boyfriend Allegedly Choked Woman While Children Watched

Later that evening, Ludwig responded to a call in which a 29-year-old mother of two said the children’s father allegedly assaulted and threatened her near the intersection of Fuller Road and 19th Street.

The woman alleged that the man, her former boyfriend, choked her and threw her to the ground, then began walking away with the woman’s 4-year-old daughter. She told Ludwig that she was able get the child away from her father and then fled. The man was last seen in the 1900 block of Fuller Road, according to Ludwig’s report.

The incident started when the woman picked the children’s father up at the Buccaneers Hockey Arena in Urbandale, and he wanted her to come to his home. She declined and, according to the report, the man began “freaking out” and refused to get out of the vehicle.

Once the man left the vehicle, he grabbed the woman by the throat and forced her to the ground, where he pushed her face into the ground and continued to strangle her. He reportedly said, “I’ll (expletive) kill you,” then removed the 4-year-old from the vehicle.

Police were not able to immediately locate the man. 

The investigation remains open.