Strangulation charges follow incident at Hulett motel

Christopher Walter has been charged with strangulation after an incident late last month at a motel in Hulett.

According to court reports, Hulett Police Department responded to a reported verbal dispute at the motel on March 25 that occurred at around 5:30 a.m.

During the dispute, Walter’s actions allegedly transgressed into physical and mental harm. He is accused of striking a female victim several times in the face with an open hand, leading EMS to suspect a broken jaw.

He is also accused of placing his hands around the victim’s neck, strangulating her to the point she could not breathe and feared for her life.

According to court reports, some time before the altercation occurred, Walter had taken the victim’s personal cell phone and placed it into a locked safe next to his bed and refused to return it to her. The victim was allegedly able to find a cell phone in the room from which she could only make emergency calls, which she used to dial 911 and cry out for help.

However, Walter allegedly knocked the phone away from her, causing it to disconnect.

When the victim attempted to leave the room, Walter allegedly restrained her by grabbing her wrist, pulling her away from the door and physically restraining her by sitting on her midsection on the floor.

At this point, the Hulett Police Chief arrived on scene and entered the room due to the occupants’ failure to acknowledge his knocking on the door and a sudden scream from inside.

According to the victim’s statements, Walter was attempting to stop her from making noise at that time by placing his hand over her nose and mouth. The victim stated that this caused her to panic and lash out as she could not breath, striking Walter in the nose, which caused him to remove his hand.

Walter has been charged with two felony counts of strangulation, each carrying a potential maximum penalty of ten years of incarceration, a $10,000 fine or both.

He also faces misdemeanor charges of domestic battery, false imprisonment and interference with an emergency call.