Keys deputy accused of pointing gun at girlfriend, choking her until she passed out

Hernan Marin Jr. arrested on charges of domestic battery, aggravated assault

Monroe County Sheriff's Office Deputy Hernan Marin Jr. was arrested on charges of domestic battery by strangulation and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

KEY WEST, Fla. – A deputy in the Florida Keys was arrested Wednesday morning after he pointed a gun at his girlfriend and choked her until she passed out, according to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office.

Deputy Hernan Marin Jr., 23, faces charges of domestic battery by strangulation and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

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Sheriff's spokesman Adam Linhardt said detectives were notified Tuesday, although the incidents happened in September and January.

Linhardt said the woman told detectives Marin choked her until she blacked out on Sept. 4 after she told him that she wanted to break up with him. She said Marin "became obsessive and suicidal, but she decided to try and work things out."

She told detectives Marin later began talking about murder-suicide and "how he can't live without her."

The most recent incident happened Jan. 27, when Marin and his girlfriend returned home from a night of drinking in Key West.

Lindhardt said she told detectives Marin grabbed her, pushed her, picked her up by her neck and threw her on the couch. She said he choked her again until she blacked out. Lindhardt said when she woke up and started calling 911, Marin pulled out a gun and told her he "was not going to allow her to call police."

The woman said she was able to get Marin to put the gun away, but they continued arguing. During the argument, she said, Marin told her "he is a deputy and it was her word against his." She said she decided to stay with him because of her financial situation.

Lindhardt said Marin told her the next morning that he "wasn't going to shoot her with one bullet, but rather he was going to shoot her with an entire magazine of bullets."

Detectives set up a phone call between Marin and his girlfriend Tuesday. Lindhardt said Marin admitted to his actions during the call and repeatedly apologized for what happened while he was intoxicated.

Marin was booked into the Monroe County Detention Center on Stock Island, where he was being held on a $30,000 bond.

He has since been fired by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office.