Man arrested after felony domestic assault in South Lake Tahoe

A man from Canyon Lake, Texas is sitting in a Carson City jail on suspicion of felony domestic battery with strangulation after attacking his girlfriend at the Tahoe Lakeshore Lodge in South Lake Tahoe.

On Saturday, November 28 at 11:22 p.m., officers from the South Lake Tahoe Police Department arrived at the lodge in the 930 block of Bal Bijou Road on reports of a couple in a heated argument. 35-year-old Jason Joaquin Villafranca allegedly held a woman identified as his girlfriend by the neck and strangled her, cutting off oxygen so that she could not breath, according to Sgt. Travis Cabral of SLTPD.

She then tried to flee out of a window but was grabbed by the suspect who threw her to the ground. The suspect took her cell phone, car keys and engagement ring, and left. Cabral said their investigation found the suspect left town via a taxi that took him to a Carson City hotel in the 3800 block of South Carson Street.

Carson City Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the hotel after receiving a request by SLTPD who advised there was probable cause to arrest Villafranca for domestic battery with strangulation and charges of false imprisonment, a gross misdemeanor, and possession of stolen property.

Deputies went to the room the man was staying and ordered him out. He was detained without incident and was taken to jail. Villafranca was booked at 2:10 a.m. Sunday. Bail was set at $18,637.

-CarsonNow.org contributed to this report.