A Frederiksted man, Taylor Patterson, is before the criminal courts after allegedly slicing the hand of his pregnant girlfriend during an assault. Photo: VIPD

On Thursday, a woman contacted the 911 Emergency Call Center to report her boyfriend, Taylor Patterson, had struck her in the face during an altercation.

According to court documents, that morning, the couple was driving along the Melvin Evans Highway when the woman says she confronted Patterson about his alleged pornography addiction and unfaithful behavior. Patterson reportedly responded with a backhand to the face, telling her to shut up. After getting hit more than once in the face and nose, the woman — who says she is 37 weeks pregnant — began attempting to block the blows coming her way while Patterson kept urging her to get out of the vehicle.

When his girlfriend responded that she was unwilling to jump from a moving vehicle, Patterson reportedly continued to shout at and hit the woman as he drove erratically down the road. Eventually, the couple arrived home, where Patterson reportedly continued to berate the woman until he decided that he was going to leave.

Blanket fight

According to documents presented in court, while the woman helped her boyfriend pack his belongings, he picked up a blanket that he had previously bought her as a gift. She says she tried to take the blanket back, and the two got into a tug of war over the item before Patterson reportedly pulled out a pocket knife and held it to the left side of her throat. He allegedly told her then that he would cut her if she didn't let go. She attempted to pull the blanket again, and that’s when he reportedly sliced her palm with the knife. 

After allegedly inflicting the knife wound on his pregnant partner, Patterson reportedly picked up one of the woman’s mobile phones and threw it onto the floor, shattering the glass screen. She scrambled for her other cell phone and used it to call 911 for help.

Responding officers spoke to Patterson at the scene, and he confirmed his girlfriend’s account of how the argument began. According to him, while they were driving on the highway,  the woman began referring to him as worthless and not helping out with anything. He admitted to slapping her in the face several times and to cutting the palm of her hand after the pair fought over the blanket that he bought her as a gift.

Police noted  red marks and swelling on the woman’s left cheek, above her left eye, left collar bone and neck, and the laceration on her right palm. She received medical treatment at the scene, but declined the offer to be transported to hospital. 

Taylor Patterson was placed under arrest and police initially charged with first-degree robbery, first-degree assault and battery, third-degree assault and battery, simple assault and battery as an act of domestic violence, carrying or using a dangerous weapon, destruction of property and disturbance of the peace.

His advice of rights hearing was scheduled for Friday March 24, 2023.

Court records indicate that currently, only the third-degree assault charge remains. At time of publication, no information about pre-trial release conditions had been uploaded to the court’s public access database.