According to court documents filed Tuesday, Benito Apolinar, 36, of Pecos. Texas pleaded not guilty to one charge of battery on a household member.
Benito, who posted an update to his Facebook page about the anniversary of his mother’s death, allegedly became enraged after the post had elicited no response from his wife, Dolores Apolinar.
Apolinar reportedly told Dolores, that “he had so many comments on his status” and was apparently unhappy that she did not respond to the post.
"You should be the first one to 'Like' my status,"he allegedly told her before punching her in the cheek and pulling her hair. He was reportedly under the influence of alcohol at the time.
CARLSBAD, New Mexico– A Texas man pleaded not guilty to battery charges after allegedly assaulting his estranged wife for failing to “Like” a status update he posted on Facebook.
According to court documents filed Tuesday, Benito Apolinar, 36, of Pecos. Texas pleaded not guilty to one charge of battery on a household member.
Benito, who posted an update to his Facebook page about the anniversary of his mother’s death, allegedly became enraged after the post had elicited no response from his wife, Dolores Apolinar.
Apolinar reportedly told Dolores, that “he had so many comments on his status” and was apparently unhappy that she did not respond to the post.
"You should be the first one to 'Like' my status,"he allegedly told her before punching her in the cheek and pulling her hair. He was reportedly under the influence of alcohol at the time.
Dolores told officers that she and Apolinar had been married for 15 years, and have children together, but were recently separated.
Police said Benito Apolinar was in Carlsbad to drop off his children with their mother.
During their interview with Dolores, police observed a red mark on her left cheek.
Benito told police that he and Dolores had been staying in the home together for a week, saying the whole incident began with a Facebook status update.
He was arrested and taken to the police department for booking, according to the police report.
According to Apolinar's statement regarding the battery, Dolores Apolinar had hit herself in the face and hit him the eyebrow area with her cell phone.
He was observed to have a scratch on his eyebrow, said police.
A pretrial conference has been set in magistrate court for Benito Apolinar for 9 a.m. on Dec. 22. The bond was set at $3,000.
According to court documents filed Tuesday, Benito Apolinar, 36, of Pecos. Texas pleaded not guilty to one charge of battery on a household member.
Benito, who posted an update to his Facebook page about the anniversary of his mother’s death, allegedly became enraged after the post had elicited no response from his wife, Dolores Apolinar.
Apolinar reportedly told Dolores, that “he had so many comments on his status” and was apparently unhappy that she did not respond to the post.
"You should be the first one to 'Like' my status,"he allegedly told her before punching her in the cheek and pulling her hair. He was reportedly under the influence of alcohol at the time.
Police said Benito Apolinar was in Carlsbad to drop off his children with their mother.
During their interview with Dolores, police observed a red mark on her left cheek.
Benito told police that he and Dolores had been staying in the home together for a week, saying the whole incident began with a Facebook status update.
He was arrested and taken to the police department for booking, according to the police report.
According to Apolinar's statement regarding the battery, Dolores Apolinar had hit herself in the face and hit him the eyebrow area with her cell phone.
He was observed to have a scratch on his eyebrow, said police.
A pretrial conference has been set in magistrate court for Benito Apolinar for 9 a.m. on Dec. 22. The bond was set at $3,000.
