A judge has ordered no bond for a suspect in a violent attack captured in multiple videos early Thursday morning in the Deep Ellum district of Dallas.
The videos are graphic and horrifying. The footage shows a woman attacked in a car, pulled from the vehicle and then slammed against a wall.
In an affidavit, the attacker is identified as the victim's boyfriend, 36-year-old Jarod Broussard. The victim was allegedly in a relationship with Broussard for about nine years.
The Assistant District Attorney Marissa Hatchett's motion, signed by Judge Gracie Lewis, notes Broussard's history of alleged violence among the reasons for the no bond order.
"The defendant has previously been charged Assault Family Violence in 2006 that was later dismissed, a Protective Order issued against him in 2006, Burglary of a Habitation and Assault Family Violence Impede Breath/Circulation in 2010 that were also dismissed," the order reads. "There is also evidence that the defendant owns and has access to firearms."
Broussard was picked up by Dallas’ police fugitive squad on Thursday on a charge of family violence assault.
According to police, officers responded at about 1:50 a.m. in the 2700 block of Canton Street, where they found the victim with a broken tooth and blood on her knees and the back of her head.
An eyewitness, who saw part of what happened, asked not to be identified.
"She got out and threw something and he threw something at her," the witness said. "Then he just charged her and threw her against the wall.”
Police said Broussard struck the victim in the head and face and then threw her to the ground. The alleged assault continued in Broussard’s vehicle. According to a release from Dallas police, Broussard "continued to assault her by placing both of his hands around the victim’s neck and strangling her for approximately 7 seconds."
Once out of the vehicle, police said the suspect ran after the victim and continued the assault.
A second video from a surveillance camera outside the Bomb Factory showed a different angle of the attack.
The eyewitness said three people on the street saw the attack and yelled at the suspect, which led him to stop and drive off. They got the victim a blanket and waited with her until police arrived.
“She was a mess," the witness said. "First her head was gushing with blood and she was not making any sense and crying hysterically."
The video also showed the suspect allegedly choking his girlfriend.
Even those who deal with domestic violence every day say it's one of the most disturbing attacks they've seen.
"It's horrible,” said Paige Flink, of The Family Place. "Can you imagine what that woman went through? Sad, scary and disheartening."
Dallas police quickly issued an arrest warrant after they saw photos of Broussard holding weapons because of his history of domestic violence.
WFAA found an arrest affidavit from 2010 when Broussard was arrested for attacking a different girlfriend in Richardson.
The warrant says he "banged the victim's head against the floor, several times had his hand pressed against victim's throat holding her head against the floor and choked her."
That case was dropped after the victim wouldn't cooperate and was too afraid to go to court.
"It's really hard," Flink said. "It's the right of the batterer to challenge his accuser in court so we try to help women at the Family Place understand how important it is to follow through in the criminal system."
In this latest case, the victim took to social media and stated the incident was a private matter and she didn't want police involved. An affidavit also stated the victim told police directly she didn't want to file charges against her boyfriend. But Dallas police arrested Broussard within hours of the attack. The video is enough to charge him.
"It's proof that something did happen so it's a strong case," Flink said.