A 25-year-old Salt Lake County man was arrested on suspicion of assault, reckless child abuse and four counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child after police say he punched a woman in the face and accidentally struck a 9-month-old baby during a dispute Monday. Officers were called to the home after four children told another adult inside about the altercation.
Brian Leonardo Colin Rodriguez was arrested on suspicion of the charges following the Monday incident, according to court records cited by KJZZ, which credited KUTV with the original reporting. A probable cause statement says Rodriguez allegedly punched a woman several times in the face and, during the altercation, accidentally struck the infant.
When officers arrived, they found the woman holding the baby, whose cheek was swollen and red, the probable cause statement says. The responding officer also observed slight swelling on the woman's face. Rodriguez, for his part, had a bloody nose — which both he and the woman said happened when she pushed him away with her nails, according to the same statement.
Officer Cites Injuries, Inconsistent Account
The responding officer said the woman's and the baby's injuries supported her account of what happened, per the probable cause statement. The officer described Rodriguez as intoxicated and giving an inconsistent account of the incident. Four children reportedly witnessed the altercation, which is what prompted another adult in the home to contact police in the first place.
Under Utah Code § 76-5-114, a person commits domestic violence in the presence of a child when they engage in conduct specified in subsections (2)(a)–(d) while a child is physically present, or know that a child is present and may see or hear the act. The statute treats qualifying conduct in a child's presence as a separate offense.
What the Charges Could Mean
Because Utah prosecutors file an individual charge for every child who witnesses a domestic violence incident, Rodriguez faces four distinct counts tied to the four children in the home, according to Intermountain Legal. Each count is a Class B misdemeanor carrying up to 180 days in jail and court-recommended fines of $1,940. Separately, under Utah Code § 76-5-109, recklessly inflicting physical injury on a child is a Class B misdemeanor that can escalate to a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison if the injury is classified as serious, per FindLaw.
It remains unknown what level of injury prosecutors will ultimately attribute to the baby, and whether the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office will adjust or add to the charges during formal screening.
A County Grappling With a Surge in Cases
Rodriguez's case lands amid a broader pattern in Salt Lake County, where prosecutors have been fielding a heavy volume of domestic violence referrals. Over a five-year period, the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office screened roughly 24,000 domestic violence-related cases and filed formal charges in more than 15,000 of them, according to KSL.com. In 2024 alone, the DA's Family Protection Unit filed 1,875 felony domestic violence cases — a decade-high surge, according to legal reporting from Nix Law.
The stakes behind those numbers are stark. State and FBI crime data released in 2025 found domestic violence is the leading cause of homicide in Utah, accounting for 51 of 137 homicides — more than 37% — committed statewide between July 2023 and January 2025, as reported by The Guardian. One measure puts the share of Utah women who experience intimate-partner violence, sexual violence or stalking during their lifetimes at 33.6%.
Protocols Shaping How Cases Like This Get Built
Utah law requires officers responding to domestic violence calls to run a standardized 11-question lethality assessment on-scene to gauge immediate danger and connect victims with crisis services. Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill has also been pushing Utah police agencies to adopt standardized crime-scene investigation protocols for domestic violence dispatches, aiming to build physical evidence that doesn't rely solely on victim testimony — a push Hoodline detailed in its earlier coverage of Gill's standardization push.
At the Salt Lake County Metro Jail in Salt Lake City, Criminal Justice Services screeners conduct screenings around the clock that consider community ties before making release recommendations.
