Ephrata man sentenced for assaulting girlfriend

EPHRATA — A Ephrata man was sentenced to a month in jail for assaulting his pregnant girlfriend.

Aaron Koski, 19, of Ephrata, pleaded guilty in Grant County Superior Court to third-degree assault. The count carried with it an allegation of domestic violence. Koski was sentenced to a month of confinement in the Grant County Jail.

On Jan. 1 the Ephrata Police Department received a report of an assault victim calling from a gas station in the 700 block of Basin Street Northwest. The female victim was contacted at the gas station, but said the assault itself occurred at an apartment in the 200 block of Division Avenue West, according to court documents.

The victim, who was 34 weeks pregnant at the time, had a bloody lip, a black left eye and swelling to her left eye. She was transported to Columbia Basin Hospital in Ephrata for treatment, where she was interviewed by police and said Koski was celebrating the new year by drinking all night long and vomited in their bed early in the morning.

The victim said she got Koski out of bed and into the bathtub, where she says he fell asleep as she was cleaning their bed. At some point Koski woke up and as his girlfriend was helping him clean up, he started to yell and cuss at her. The victim closed and locked the bathroom door in an attempt to get away from Koski, but he proceeded to kick a hole in the bathroom door. During one of the kicks the door flung open and hit the victim in the face.

Koski entered the bathroom, threw the victim to the ground and wrapped his hands around the woman’s neck. Koski then started punching the woman in the head and face, grabbed a metal coat hanger and beat her with it and hit her in the head with a pillow as well.

The victim said she was able to get up from the ground, but Koski pushed her back down. Koski told the victim to leave the apartment, which she attempted to do but Koski changed his mind and took her car keys and threw her cellphone. The victim was able to escape and walked to a nearby gas station to call 911.

Court documents indicate the injuries officers found on the victim were consistent with her story of what occurred.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.