Man Brutally Assaults Girlfriend Over $19: Victim's Head Slammed, Face Stomped, Ribs Broken

ST. THOMAS — A man was arrested after his girlfriend reported a vicious assault against her, sparked by less than $20 in grocery money.  According to court documents, officers of the Domestic Violence Unit were dispatched to the Schneider Regional Medical Center on September 25, where they met a woman lying on a gurney, seemingly in pain. She told them that she was at home the previous night, when her boyfriend Beeri De La Cruz  came in around 10 p.m. The man, who she said appeared to be intoxicated, reportedly asked her to return $19 he had given her the previous day to purchase groceries. When she told him that she no longer had the money, De La Cruz reportedly became irate, and pushed her to the ground. The woman told police how her boyfriend stood over her and began slamming her head against the concrete floor.  She recounted how he then began punching her, in the face and about the body. She stayed down during the assault, the woman told officers, both because of the force of t...