Man Accused of Beating Wife with Hammer Gets Bail

Joel Bardalez

Police say he beat his common-law wife with a hammer in December. But tonight, his attorney has gotten him out on bail.  Just days before Christmas, it is alleged that Joel Bardalez used a hammer to beat Sindey Tut, a mother of four children, in her face, breaking some facial bones.  Now Bardalez, who is charged with Wounding, Aggravated Assault and Harm, and who was also hurt in the fight, has promised that he will not go near Tut’s home, nor will he interfere with her personally, or through anyone else.   Tut’s statement to police is that Bardalez returned to their Alta Vista Home in Stann Creek on December twenty-third and they got into a fight when she packed her clothes and told him she was heading to Placencia. Tut claims that Bardalez grabbed her by the hair and slammed her into something until she lost consciousness.  How the allegation of assault with the hammer was founded will be a matter to be ventilated during the trial.  Bardalez, who is the father of at least one of Tut’s children, suffered knife wounds during the altercation and was admitted to the hospital. His medico legal form shows that he suffered cut wounds to the back of the neck, under the chin and on the forehead. His injuries were classified as wounding.  When he was escorted to the Dangriga Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Manon Dennison, Bardalez was denied bail.  On Monday, after spending almost two months in prison, attorney Richard “Dickie” Bradley submitted to Magistrate Dennison that Bardalez had been denied his freedom, but he has a job and children to sustain, and that he has promised to stay in San Pedro and away from Tut.  The magistrate granted bail in the sum of three thousand dollars. Bardalez is to report to the San Pedro Police Station every week and must return to the Dangriga Magistrate’s Court on March twenty-seventh.