By Travis Uresk
1/24/25
| Roosevelt, Ut. | January 24th, 2025 |
Officers responded to a domestic assault that occurred in a vehicle on Highway 40 between Vernal and Roosevelt around 9:30 pm.
The two subjects involved were sitting in the front seats, and a different adult female and a child of the two subjects were in the back seat. The male driver and the female passenger got into an argument while driving.
The male called the female a "Bitch" leading her to hit the male in the ear, to which he immediately hit her in the face splitting her lip and causing her to bleed profusely. She tried to take a picture of her face, but the male ripped the phone out of her hand, throwing it out the window.
The driver then called central dispatch wanting to meet with an officer, and UHP Trooper Dodd asked dispatch to have them meet the trooper in the Stewart’s parking lot in Roosevelt.
When the trooper arrived, a Roosevelt City Officer and a Duchesne County Sheriff's Office Deputy were already on scene.
The female was taken to the Uintah Basim Medical Center while Trooper Dodd investigated the incident.
It was determined that the female, Nicole Malone, hit the driver first, and the driver, 26-year-old Austin James Oxford, then hit Nicole back, which both admitted to. Austin also admitted to taking Nicole's phone and throwing it out of the window while driving.
Due to Nicole being the aggressor and striking the first blow against her partner, with full knowledge that her child was in the back seat, the trooper decided to arrest her for assault and domestic violence in the presence of a child.
Due to Austin immediately retaliating and striking his partner back, and due to him destroying her property, Trooper Dodd decided to arrest him for criminal mischief and domestic violence in the presence of a child.
