Havre man denies charges of beating, kidnapping girlfriend

A Havre man pleaded not guilty Wednesday in state District Court in Havre to beating his girlfriend repeatedly and keeping her locked up in a room for days.

Rick Valdez, born in 1976, is charged with partner or family member assault, aggravated kidnapping and criminal destruction of or tampering with a communication device.

Charging documents say a woman told a deputy with the Hill County Sheriff's Office Jan. 18 that Valdez had assaulted her and kept her against her will in the Bitterroot Trailer Park.

The deputy met with the woman at the police department, where she was being treated by an EMT.

"She had a substantial amount of bruising on her face, which included two black eyes, and the left side of her face was noticeably swollen," the charging document says.

The woman was reluctant to speak to law enforcement at first, but a friend had convinced her to do so, documents say.

The woman said she had been repeatedly beat by Valdez, with whom she had been in a relationship for the past seven months.

"During the course of four days ... (Valdez) kept her against her will at his residence and physically beat her daily," documents say.

She told police the argument started because Valdez accused her of stealing his Klonopin medication and when she denied doing so he beat her. She said she was put in a bedroom for two days against her will and told that if she left she'd be beaten, documents say.

During one of the days, a friend stopped by to visit the woman, the document says. A fight broke out between the friend and Valdez. The woman tried to leave with the friend but was physically stopped from doing so by Valdez and kicked and dragged back into the bedroom where she had been restrained.

The woman escaped Jan. 18 while Valdez went to use the restroom, documents say. She used a neighbor's phone to call a friend, who picked her up off U.S. Highway 2.

The woman got a message through a friend from Valdez that if she didn't return, "she was done for," documents say. A friend who was with the woman then took her to the police department.

Charging documents say the woman's injuries included two black eyes, swelling on the left side of her left face, large bruises on her left forearm area and several scratches on the top of her hands.

Deputies arrested Valdez at an east Havre address and later learned he has five prior partner or family member assault convictions.