Wife Charged in Man’s Fall From Balcony
A 28-year-old Arleta man was in critical condition Tuesday after his common-law wife allegedly pushed him off a third-story balcony after a dispute, Los Angeles police said.
The woman was arrested later in connection with the incident.
Ernesto Cardoza and Joanne Rayne Torres, also 28, were at a party in the 9000 block of Tobias Avenue in Panorama City when they apparently had an argument, Police Lt. Warren Knowles said.
The two were alone on the balcony of the third-story apartment about 1:30 a.m. when she allegedly “gave him a shove” that sent him tumbling over the side.
Cardoza fell about 40 feet onto some decorative rocks, said Knowles, who declined to disclose the subject of the argument.
Cardoza was taken to Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, where he was operated on for four hours for head trauma, hospital spokeswoman Maggie Cessar said. He was in critical to poor condition Tuesday afternoon, she said.
Detectives arrested Torres at the Van Nuys Division about 3 p.m. after they questioned her and the four others present at the party, Knowles said.
She was being held without bail in the women’s ward of the Van Nuys Jail on suspicion of attempted murder.
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