A Torrington man already accused of brutally beating and disfigurement of his ex-girlfriend has been charged with yet another felony, this time based on claims he threw the victim’s phone, laptop and guns into a canal while fleeing.

Andrew Atkinson, 27, was charged Nov. 5 with criminal damage to property, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.

The charge is in addition to Atkinson’s previous charges an alleged crime in 2016 involving theft and strangulation. He is also accused of what court documents describe as a brutal Aug. 3, 2024, aggravated assault on his ex-girlfriend that left her hospitalized with bruises and cuts all over her body, collapsed lungs and facial disfigurement .

After about eight days of being wanted on the aggravated assault charge, Atkinson turned himself in on August 20.

In the newest case of destruction of property, an affidavit from Goshen County Sheriff Kory Fleenor says Atkinson was supposed to return his ex-girlfriend’s belongings and failed to do so.

He destroyed those things between the day she was hospitalized and the day she turned herself in, another charging document in the case alleges.

“Judge (Nathaniel) Hibben ordered Atkinson to return the items belonging to (his ex-girlfriend) that she stated she had in his possession,” Fleenor wrote in the document, summarizing an Aug. 26 hearing in which the ex-girlfriend sought a protective order against Atkinson.

Those items included guns, two laptops, a cell phone and an iPad, the sheriff added.

“Atkinson informed the judge that he had already destroyed the items,” Fleenor continued. “He stated that he threw them in a canal and then (later) stated that he threw them in the trash.”

Those things together cost $1,450, the ex-girlfriend told Goshen County Coroner Herb Irons, according to the document.

Increase in number

The three felony cases against Atkinson that have come up in Goshen County District Court include charges that carry a combined sentence of up to 55 years in prison plus fines if he is convicted of all and sentenced consecutively. These include two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of strangulation (one of which carries a lesser prison term since he was charged in 2016, when the penalties were lesser), one count of child abuse and one burglary.

If his recent criminal property case goes to district court, he could add another 10 years to that maximum.

At the beginning of August…

Atkinson’s ex-girlfriend and her child were taken to the Banner Health emergency room in Wheatland around Aug. 3. But the woman was later transferred to another hospital for a higher level of care. A Cheyenne Police Department officer interviewed her along with Goshen County Sheriff’s Lt. Herb Irons, the affidavit states.

The woman said she and Atkinson had been to a party the night before at Atkinson’s mother’s home in Lingle, Wyoming.

She and Atkinson left the home around 8 p.m. in a white 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross, with Atkinson behind the wheel and the woman and her child together in the back seat, the affidavit said.

They soon parked the vehicle briefly, and he began to have a verbal argument with the woman, Irons wrote in the document, adding that Atkinson began pulling her hair and pulling her.

The affidavit says Atkinson pulled the car into a field again a short time later and began hitting the woman several times in the face, then struck her in the head with a 9mm Glock handgun until -lost consciousness.

He strangled her neck with his hands for about 10 seconds, causing her to lose consciousness again, Irons wrote.

North, towards a barn

When she regained consciousness, she grabbed her child, exited the vehicle and attempted to run north toward a barn.

She told police she feared Atkinson would kill her.

She tripped twice while running and Atkinson caught up, the document states.

He took their child and began walking back toward the parked vehicle, Irons writes in the document. The woman ran back to him and allowed him to hold the child again, the document states, although the child’s name is redacted.

At that point, Atkinson pushed the woman and child, causing both to fall to the ground, the affidavit states.

The document says the woman returned to the car and the trio drove off with Atkinson behind the wheel.

He drove to the 7800 block of Route 27 where he stopped the vehicle again and made the woman exit. He then began punching and kicking her in the face and chest while she was lying on the ground, the affidavit said.

He got into the vehicle and drove off, heading south on Route 27.

The woman stayed on the ground for about 20 seconds until she was sure Atkinson was gone, then got up and ran into a cornfield to the west, getting back onto the highway.

Atkinson’s mother intercepted both mother and child and took them to the emergency room, the affidavit states.

Whole body bruised and cut

Irons wrote that the woman suffered a punctured or collapsed lung. The whole body was bruised and cut, including the legs. He also had two black eyes almost swollen shut, the deputy added.

The document says the woman’s face was bruised with hematomas and appeared disfigured. She received 15 staples and four stitches in her head from the pistol whipping, the affidavit says.

Medical personnel inserted a chest tube into the woman’s lung, apparently as a result of a blow to the chest.

The child had lacerations to his forehead that were treated and documented, the affidavit states.

Clair McFarland can be contacted at [email protected].