One very serious domestic violence crime that can be charged in Washington is unlawful imprisonment. Under RCW 10.99.020, unlawful imprisonment is a crime that can be considered domestic violence when it involves two people that share a close family the following or dating relationship. This crime involves holding another person against their will. The law defines unlawful imprisonment as:

A person is guilty of unlawful imprisonment if he or she knowingly restrains another person.

Domestic violence and unlawful imprisonment instances do not have to take place in the home. A recent example of this took place in Spokane. News outlet KXLY reports a story in which police attempted to stop a stolen vehicle. Instead of pulling over, the driver tried to hit the police vehicle head-on and attempted to flee the scene. During the ensuing chase, the officer noticed that there was a woman in the back of the truck. Eventually, she was able to jump out of the vehicle, causing injuries that were later treated at the hospital.

When police were finally able to stop the vehicle, they arrested 43 year old Hector Rodriguez and charged him with multiple offenses including domestic violence and unlawful imprisonment. Though not that much information was released, it seems that the woman was the victim of domestic abuse and was then taken against her will and forced into the stolen vehicle by Rodriguez.

Many charges were involved in this crime, however, if convicted Rodriguez stands face up to 5 years of incarceration and $10,000 in fines for the unlawful imprisonment charge alone. This demonstrates how serious domestic violence charges can be as well as how important it is to hire a defense attorney to help you fight the allegations against you. For more information on this type of domestic violence charges in Washington, see our unlawful imprisonment page.