The
38-year-old heir to one of America’s largest sugar-producing companies was
arrested last week for allegedly beating his girlfriend in a fit of rage after
allegedly becoming “irate” that they were seated next to a gay couple at a
Florida steakhouse.
Alexander
“Nico” Fanjul — whose family owns and operates subsidiary companies like
Florida Crystals, Domino Sugar and American Sugar Refining — was taken into
custody in Palm Beach on Jan. 28 after his girlfriend told authorities she
thought she was going to die at his hands.
Police said
they responded to his home around 11:30 p.m. after a neighbor reported hearing
a woman screaming.
When cops
arrived, they allegedly heard a woman scream, “Get off of me,” according to a
police report.
They found
Fanjul “standing over a female subject” who was “on the floor in a defensive
‘fetal’ position and observed to be bleeding from the facial area.”
After
separating Fanjul and the unidentified woman, she told police she had been
dating Fanjul for about a year and a half, and the two had gone out to dinner
at Flagler Steakhouse at the ritzy Breakers Hotel earlier that night.
Sugar heir
Alexander “Nico” Fanjul, 38, was arrested last week. PALM BEACH POLICE
DEPARTMENT
“While at
dinner, Fanjul initially became irate because the two were seated next to a
homosexual couple at the restaurant,” according to the police affidavit.
“Fanjul
voiced his frustration to [the victim] at the restaurant, becoming increasingly
irate.”
The victim
also allegedly said Fanjul was still ranting and raving “about his frustration
with the restaurant” by the time they got back to his home, and she told Fanjul
to drop the subject.
“That is
when Fanjul began to punch [the victim] in the face with a closed fist, causing
bruising, bleeding and swelling to her facial area,” the police affidavit says.
She also
allegedly said Fanjul “continually kneed her in the face causing her
substantial pain, and that, while doing so, Fanjul forcibly removed [the victim’s]
purse from her shoulder.”
A victim
told police that she had been dating Fanjul for about a year and a half, and
the two had gone out to dinner at Flagler Steakhouse at the ritzy Breakers
Hotel earlier that night. Sherry McKay Gray/Facebook
Fanjul’s
family owns and operates subsidiary companies like Florida Crystals, Domino
Sugar and American Sugar Refining. Palm Beach Daily News
As the
victim took out her phone to call 911, she said, Fanjul grabbed her hand and
smashed it and the phone on the ground, shattering the device.
Without her
phone, the victim said, she “began to scream for help,” at which point Fanjul
allegedly “threw her to the ground and forcibly dragged her inside of the
residence to prevent her from receiving aid or escaping.”
Once inside,
the victim said, Fanjul used both hands to choke her, and she started having
extreme difficulty breathing.
Police noted
in their report they observed marks around the victim’s neck and a trail of
blood on the floor.
When they
searched Fanjul to take him into custody that night, police said, they also
found an envelope in his wallet containing a powdery substance that they
believe to be cocaine.
At the
restaurant, the couple were allegedly seated next to a gay couple — which cops
say sent Fanjul into a fit of rage. Sherry McKay Gray/Facebook
Fanjul is
charged with felony domestic battery for strangulation, false imprisonment,
robbery, tampering with or harassing victim, criminal mischief, and possession
of cocaine.
He was
released Friday on $180,000 bail, and his lawyer said he denies the charges
against him, according to the Palm Beach Post.
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