Bodycam video shows bloodied Nikki Alcaraz begging police to arrest her boyfriend before she vanished
By: Newly-released bodycam footage shows bloodied Tennessee Nikki Alcaraz begging New Mexico police to arrest her boyfriend before she was reported missing.
Ms Alcaraz, 33, disappeared during a roadtrip from Nashville to Orange County, California, with her boyfriend Tyler Stratton.
The couple were located safe in Eureka, in northern California, on Tuesday after authorities were tipped off a local resident.
On 4 May, they were pulled over in Torrance County, New Mexico, after a truck driver reported seeing Mr Stratton hitting his girlfriend.
Bodycam footage released to The Independent by the Torrance County Sheriff’s Office shows Ms Alcaraz, with a swollen eye and bruising to her arm, telling officers that the pair had been drinking shots of Fireball whiskey before a violent fight broke out in her Jeep Wrangler.
“He laid his hands on me and I want him in jail for it,” she can be heard saying.
The trucker who contacted police tells officers that he saw Mr Stratton “slap her and punch her in the face” as she was lying on the ground.
Ms Alcaraz could also be heard screaming in a 911 call, according to an incident report provided to The Independent by the sheriff’s office.
Officers can later be seen speaking to Mr Stratton, who is bleeding from the nose and mouth, with his arms zip tied behind his back.
Mr Stratton says that his girlfriend had been the aggressor, striking him for no reason while he was driving.
“I’m not trying to blame anything on her... but she ended up having too much to drink,” he said, claiming that he had been “begging her to stop” hitting him.
“I’ve never seen Nikki like this before.”
The couple both appeared to be intoxicated, the incident report stated.
The officers then let the couple go, after instructing Mr Stratton not to contact Ms Alcaraz for 24 hours, or he would face arrest.
Ms Alcaraz was reported missing on 9 May by family who were unable to contact her.