Box Elder man accused of beating and kidnapping his girlfriend

A Box Elder man is accused of beating his girlfriend repeatedly and keeping her from leaving their hotel room.

Nelson Travis Alexander, born in 1965, is charged in District Court in Havre with felony aggravated kidnapping and aggravated assault, as well as misdemeanor partner or family member assault and obstructing a peace officer. Alexander’s arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 29.

Court charging documents say police and an ambulance responded Dec. 25 to the El Toro Inn where a caller reported that someone was bleeding from the head.

The caller said Alexander knocked on her door to tell her he was locked out of his room by a woman who was drunk.

The caller told officers she then went to the room — the swing lock was undone — and found a woman with a swollen left eye and blood on her mouth and shirt, documents say.

Officers responded and found the alleged victim in the room, crying and drunk, documents say. An officer found several blood-soaked towels on the room. Officers also found blood in the telephone, which was off the hook. Documents say it was later discovered there had been problems with the hotel phone system.

The woman was taken to Northern Montana Hospital, where she told officers that Alexander, whom she had been in a relationship with, beat her the night before and did so repeatedly. Medical staff said the alleged victim had bleeding in her left eye due to trauma.

“Had the injury been more severe, it could have resulted in permanent loss of vision in her eye,” documents say.

Officers later found Alexander at a First Street bar, drunk. He told police the alleged victim was hurt because she fell and hit her face on the ground in a nearby grocery store parking lot.

The officers noticed blood on Alexander’s shoes. Alexander said it was “probably from her getting hit.” He said he slapped the alleged victim a couple of times, documents say.

Alexander was arrested, and while being booked, “he became beligerent with the staff and had to be pinned against the wall and physically dragged to his cell,” documents say.

The woman told investigating officers that Alexander had hit her lots of times including incidents in the past. She said she was scared to report the abuse and was physically prevented from leaving the room. She said Alexander locked the door and punched her. She tried to leave several times, she told officers, but Alexander kept her in the room, documents say.

The court documents say Alexander was released from federal prison relating to a sentence for assault and was convicted by Chippewa Cree tribal Court Sept. 20, 2010, for domestic violence.