A Fresno man is facing felony charges after police say he strangled his sister-in-law for roughly three minutes during a family disturbance on August 6, then fled before officers arrived — leaving behind a scene where the victim's boyfriend fell to the ground and dropped their three-month-old child while trying to intervene. Jacob Ballinger was arrested four days later, on August 10, after officers happened to stop him during an unrelated call about a suspicious vehicle.
According to GV Wire, officers were dispatched to the family disturbance at 8:49 p.m. on August 6, and the outlet's reporting identified Ballinger as the victim's brother-in-law — a detail that clarifies the family relationship at the center of the case. Per the Fresno Police Department, the confrontation began after the victim got into a verbal argument with her sister. Ballinger allegedly pushed the victim's boyfriend before turning on the victim herself, placing both hands on her neck and strangling her for an estimated three minutes, the victim told police.
The victim reported experiencing neck pain and losing consciousness during the assault, and said Ballinger prevented her from moving as it happened. At some point, she lost her balance and hit her head on a wall-mounted AC unit. Her boyfriend, who was holding the couple's three-month-old child, tried to intervene during the struggle — but fell to the ground in the process and dropped the infant, according to the police account.
Suspect Located Days Later During Unrelated Stop
Ballinger left the scene before officers arrived on August 6, and it took four more days for police to catch up with him. Fresno Police officers apprehended him at 10:38 p.m. on August 10 near East Shaw Avenue and Fresno Street, after stopping him during an unrelated response to a suspicious vehicle report, the station notes. He now faces charges of assault likely to cause great bodily injury, false imprisonment and child abuse.
Each of those charges carries significant weight under California law. Assault by force likely to produce great bodily injury under Penal Code Section 245(a)(4) is a “wobbler” offense, meaning prosecutors can pursue it as a misdemeanor carrying up to a year in county jail, or as a felony punishable by two, three or four years in state prison, according to DCD Law. False imprisonment accomplished through violence, menace, fraud or deceit is charged as a felony under Penal Code Sections 236 and 237, carrying a sentence of 16 months, two years or three years, per Eisner Gorin LLP. Child endangerment under conditions likely to cause great bodily harm or death, charged under Penal Code Section 273a(a), can bring up to six years in state prison and, if probation is granted instead, a mandatory 48-month probation term, according to Justia Law.
Strangulation Seen as a Warning Sign of Escalating Violence
Cases involving manual strangulation are treated with particular urgency by domestic violence researchers because of how strongly they correlate with future lethal violence. Research from the Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention, cited by the Placer County Strangulation Awareness Resource Portal, found that domestic violence victims who survive non-fatal strangulation are 750% more likely to later be murdered by the same perpetrator.
That statistic lands with added weight in Fresno County, which has struggled with domestic violence at rates well above other major California counties. State Department of Justice data reported by Fresnoland showed Fresno County recorded 20.8 domestic violence-related law enforcement calls per 1,000 adults ages 18 to 69 in 2023 — the highest per-capita rate among California's 10 largest counties. City legislative records show the Fresno Police Department's Domestic Violence Unit investigated 10,616 cases in 2023 and 9,369 in 2024, with officials expecting to handle more than 10,000 cases again in 2025.
Local Resources for Survivors
The Marjaree Mason Center, Fresno County's sole dedicated domestic violence organization, fields 800 to 900 crisis calls a month and often operates its emergency shelters at full capacity, according to Fresnoland's reporting. The center runs a 24-hour hotline at 559-233-HELP for anyone in the county seeking help or safety planning.
Police have not indicated whether additional charges are pending against Ballinger, and the case remains an active investigation. As is standard, the allegations described are attributed to police statements and remain unproven pending formal court proceedings.
