Rosemount Man Charged with Beating Woman, Destroying Clothes with Bleach

A Rosemount man stands accused of attacking a woman and ruining her entire wardrobe during a fit of rage.

Mario Romel Williams, 34, hit the woman so hard that she was sent to the hospital with a concussion and ruptured ear drum. He also poured bleach on 17 dresses, 17 pairs of dress pants, eight pairs of jeans, 60 shirts, six suit jackets, and 19 sweaters. He is charged with one count of criminal damage to property in the first degree, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and $10,000 in fines. He also faces to lesser charges for domestic assault.

The incident in question occurred last Friday, July 7. At about 7 a.m. the Rosemount Police were dispatched to an address on Banyan Lane, where they encountered a woman sitting in a car wearing only a bathrobe. She appeared bruised and swollen. There were red marks around her eyes and face and visible marks on the back of her neck. 

She told police she'd been out with friends the night before when Williams began acting jealous, texting her incessantly and accusing her of cheating. She denied it, but he that did not assuage him. 

He went back to the house and poured bleach all over her clothing. When she arrived home she caught him in the act of destroying the clothes. He accused her of infidelity again, and an argument ensued which quickly escalated to a physical assault. Williams ripped her dress off and began hitting and slapping her in the face, she said, then threw her against the couch and the cupboards. The woman said she started to become dizzy during the assault.  

At one point, Williams threatened to fling bleach onto her too, but didn't carry out the threat, the woman said. 

The woman threw on the robe, by then the only unmarred piece of clothing in the house, and ran outside, leaving behind her phone. A neighbor agreed to make the 911 call for her.

Police went inside and tried to get Williams out of the bathroom. He eventually complied. In his statement to police, he denied striking the woman, but admitted that he'd poured bleach all over her clothing.

During a survey of the scene, police found a ripped dress lying on the living room floor. In the bedroom, they observed the woman's clothing hanging in the closet and lying in a pile on the floor, with nearly every piece showing visible bleach damage. The total value of the ruined clothing exceeds $5,000.

Williams also tried to burn the woman's passport.

The alleged victim was  taken to the emergency room after she she complained of ear pain, blurred vision, soreness of the neck, head, elbow and legs, increased dizziness and weakness, nausea and multiple bruises. She was diagnosed with a concussion and traumatic tympanic membrane rupture.

Williams remains in jail on a $15,000 bond. He is forbidden from contacting the victim by court order. He is also prohibited from coming within a mile radius of either her home or her workplace.