Police: Baby hit while husband was beating wife
The Arizona Republic
A Mesa man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of hitting his 18-month-old son in the head with his belt buckle, said Mesa police.
Mario Salazar, who police say is an undocumented immigrant, was fighting with his wife Saturday and took off his belt to hit her, police reports state.
Salazar's wife was holding the child, but instead of hitting his wife, Salazar struck his son in the head at least twice, officials said.
The child began bleeding badly, was transported to the hospital and needed staples to close the wounds, police said.
Salazar told conflicting stories to hospital staff about the cause of the injuries to his son, but fled when he found out the police had been called.
Police located Salazar on Wednesday and as they attempted to arrest him, he struck an officer in the face, police said.
A Taser was deployed, but didn't make sufficient contact and Salazar fled again.
When police found Salazar and took him into custody, he claimed hitting his son was an accident. Police said he stated "I didn't mean to hit him. His mother was using him as a shield."
Salazar also claimed he did not mean to hit the officer, but just to push past him to avoid arrest.
Salazar admitted he is an illegal alien and has been deported once. He told police he got back in the country by paying a coyote to smuggle him across the border.
Salazar is being charged with child abuse-domestic violence, aggravated assault on police, resisting arrest and assault-domestic violence.
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