Man Accused of Locking Up Girlfriend
A Santa Ana man who allegedly beat his live-in girlfriend and periodically locked her in a closet to keep her from leaving their apartment was arrested Sunday after the woman escaped, police said.
Anthony Johnson, 31, of the 1700 block of Richland Avenue, was booked into Orange County Jail on a felony charge of false imprisonment and a charge of spousal abuse. Bail was set at $10,000.
Police said Sheryl Vic, 33, was taken to Coastal Community Hospital in Santa Ana for observation Sunday morning after she escaped from the closet in which she had allegedly been imprisoned for an unknown time.
She ran down the block to the home of Johnson’s mother, Venecia Johnson, who called police at 8:21 a.m.
“She said Tony had beat her up and (she) was afraid,” Johnson’s mother said. “She said he locked her in the closet . . . to keep her from going out.”
Vic also accused Anthony Johnson of not letting her out to use the toilet during the unspecified number of times she was confined in the closet, police said, but she said he would bring her food.
Vic and Johnson had been living at the home for six months, and the beatings had happened before, Venecia Johnson said.
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