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Wife assailed in church, police say

She was praying with 100 others when he put a steak knife to her throat, reports say.

By TAMARA EL-KHOURY
Published June 9, 2005

TARPON SPRINGS - Gilbert Rodriguez Vega waited for his wife to kneel in prayer inside the church where she sought sanctuary from him, police said, before he put the 8-inch steak knife to her throat.

Omayra Torres, 36, was staying at the Iglesia Cristiana Internacional Church at 401 N Disston Ave. to escape domestic problems, police said. That's where Vega, 33, of New Port Richey found her praying with about 100 other parishioners during a worship service about 8 p.m. Tuesday.

The lights of the church had been lowered when Vega approached his wife and told her to come outside to talk, Tarpon Springs police said in arrest reports. He told her they could talk in a "good way," or a "bad way," police said.

When she told him it was not the time and place for conversation, he grabbed her by the shoulder, put her in a choke hold from behind and put a black-handled knife to her throat, according to police. She grabbed the knife and kept it away from her throat, but she suffered minor cuts to her left hand.

Torres' father, Mislan Torres, 67, who was visiting from Puerto Rico, also was cut on the hand after he and another parishioner, Jose E. Chavez, 43, of Holiday, disarmed Vega, who fled and left in a blue Dodge van.

Minutes later, Tarpon Springs police Officer John Spatz pulled over the van heading north on U.S. 19 just north of Live Oak Street. Vega stopped the van and ran down an embankment off U.S. 19.

Spatz said he chased Vega for about 300 yards. He yelled, "Stop! Police!" but Vega ran into some woods. Spatz said he cut him off by running through a mobile home park. Spatz said he drew his gun and Vega got down on the ground and was compliant from then on.

Vega, who goes by the nickname "Popeye," has a tattoo of his wife's face and name on his right forearm. He was charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery, disturbing a religious assembly, resisting arrest without violence and failing to appear in court on an unrelated case. He also was charged with three traffic offenses: driving an unregistered motor vehicle, no proof of insurance and failure to produce a driver's license upon command. He was being held at the Pinellas County Jail Wednesday in lieu of $375,763 bail.

Vega was already a wanted man when he stepped into the church Tuesday night, according to court records. A warrant was out for his arrest for failing to appear for a pretrial hearing in a Pinellas County court Monday on charges of possession of crack cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The church was locked Wednesday afternoon, and Torres could not be reached for comment, but she has said in court pleadings that this was not the first time her husband menaced her with a knife.

On May 26 in Pasco County, Torres sought an injunction for protection against domestic violence. In a written statement, she said she was starting the process to dissolve her marriage of almost four years.

In the petition, Torres described how the couple broke up on May 21 after their children were removed from the home by authorities. She did not provide any other details of why the children were removed, but said her husband had come home drunk and she told him to leave. In the days that followed, she wrote, he returned drunk, called her collect and once broke the lock on the door.

Torres did not allege that Vega hurt her during those five days in May, but she did say he had hit her in the past and had warned her that she better not leave. He once tore her clothes off her and held her with a knife, she said, not letting her leave for three days.

"My life has not been easy with him during four years," she wrote. "I have been living under domestic violence, always hoping that he will change, but he stays sober two or three months and goes back. I am scared for my life and the life of my children because of his violent ways. I hope you can help me."

The petition was denied by a judge who ruled that Torres failed to allege facts showing she was in immediate danger.

In another petition for an injunction in July, Torres wrote that she had three children, two girls and a boy, whose ages now are 16, 14 and 7, though Vega is not their father.

In that request, she said he had put a knife to her throat before. She received a temporary injunction, but court records show the case was dismissed at her request.

--Staff writer Phil Davis and researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

[Last modified June 9, 2005, 06:18:26]