A Pleasantville man accused in a domestic assault that left a woman bloodied and bruised allegedly broke a video screen after he was ordered held in jail Thursday.
Gabriel Mojica, who appeared via video from a booth at the jail, was muted but appeared to be talking and trying to get the judge to hear him after she ruled he be detained.
"I don't want to talk to him, I've already made my decision," Superior Court Judge Patricia Wild said. "Nothing he can say is going to help himself."
Instead, she allowed him to meet virtually with his attorney. When that private meeting ended, Mojica was no longer in the booth.
"We'll have to dial in from somewhere else, he broke the TV," a corrections officer told the court.
Mojica, 35, is accused of striking the woman in the face and then biting her cheek and hand while the two were inside a vehicle in a parking lot, according to the affidavit of probable cause obtained by BreakingAC. The exact location was redacted from the report.
The woman walked into the Pleasantville Police Station and told them about the attack, the affidavit states.
She had a split and swollen lip, along with swelling to the right side of her face, the officer wrote. The woman also visible bruising and dried blood from teeth marks on her right hand.
It was not the first time Mojica is accused of attacking the victim.
He broke the front door of the woman's apartment July 31, while telling her to drop a temporary restraining order, or TRO, according to those charges.
"He harassed the victim to drop the domestic violence TRO, which she did," the judge noted.
"The court is concerned about the obvious cycle of domestic violence in this relationship," Wild said. "The defendant uses violence to resolve his domestic disputes."
In the most recent case, the woman told police that Mojica was angered after he asked her for money to buy crack, and she told him she had not money.
Mojica has a criminal history that spans 15 years, along with pending charges that include cruelty to animals and child endangerment.
The endangerment charge comes from the animal abuse allegedly happening in front of Mojica's then-7-year-old daughter, according to court documents obtained by BreakingAC.
Mojica caused bodily injury to a 10-week-old pit bull puppy Sept. 4, 2022, by dangling "Scooby" by the leash two to three feet in the air twice, the charges claim. The second time, Mojica punched the dog when she was back on the ground in order to get her to move forward.
He was released on a summons in that case.
Defense attorney Maya Rex argued there were conditions where Mojica could be safely released, and that he understood he could have no contact with the victim.
She said he works full time at Jersey Panel and takes care of his daughter.
But the judge disagreed, ordering him held in the Atlantic County Justice Facility as the case goes through the courts.
That is when Mojica tried to talk to her, and instead got the meeting with his attorney.
It was not clear how he damaged the screen.
