Casper Police Records: Teacher Hit Ex-Wife With Truck in August
The elementary school teacher arrested Monday allegedly hit his ex-wife with his brother's truck at a restaurant in August, and nearly two years before that kicked her and broke her ribs, according to court documents.
Kellan Holbrook, 33, was charged with reckless endangerment and domestic battery in the August incident, and domestic battery and child endangerment in the September 2016 incident, according to the two separate affidavits filed by Casper Police in Natrona County Circuit Court.
Holbrook heard the charges, all misdemeanors, in Circuit Court on Tuesday, and Judge Michael Patchen set his bond at $500 for each of the two separate incidents. He will have a preliminary hearing within a few weeks to determine whether his case will be bound over to District Court for trial.
Monday, he was arrested on multiple warrants at Crest Hill Elementary School, where he works as a second-grade teacher. Casper police officers took him into custody after he left his classroom, then proceeded to escort him out through a side door.
According to the affidavit accompanying the charging documents, a Casper police detective was assigned the case in August. The detective learned of the victim, Holbrook's ex-wife, who reported that he attempted to back over her with his truck during a child exchange at a restaurant on the east side of Casper on Aug. 10.
On Aug. 31, police interviewed the three biological children of the couple, who divorced in the fall of 2016.
One child, age 10, said she Holbrook injured her wrist on Aug. 10 during the child exchange at the restaurant when he tried to pull her into the truck, which is also when he backed into her mother and drove off. This wasn't the first time such an injury happened, she added.
The first time happened Sept. 18, 2016, when her mother was reading to her and her brother and sister. Holbrook came home from work and "he looked really angry, with a stern face," according to the affidavit.
She said Holbrook broke some items on a door, and saw him grab one child and kick his mother in the ribs.
The two other children told similar stories, according to the affidavit.
She said they met when they were 19, and were married after their first two children were born.
The detective interviewed the mother, who said that Holbrook got away with things he did and was concerned he was never charged for fracturing her ribs. She provided police medical records of the kicking.
There was at least one other incident of domestic violence, she said.
Her husband, she added, video-recorded the incident at the restaurant.
During an interview of Holbrook in 2016, he said he "'messed up'" and was seeking counseling.
On Oct. 4, 2018, the detective met with Holbrook and his attorney Don Fuller. Holbrook waived his Miranda rights, spoke of his relationship with his ex-wife and "had gone to extensive therapy to rid himself of those memories."
He denied grabbing the one daughter and hurting her wrist, and denied any recollection of kicking his ex-wife, again referring to the therapy, according to the affidavit.