A Seattle man who has been accused of threatening his former girlfriend and his 4-year-old son with a gun is now in even bigger trouble for tampering with a witness.

On May 3, the man was apparently involved in domestic violence incident in which he pointed a handgun at his ex-girlfriend during an argument at a gas station. He reportedly displayed a pistol, grabbed her by the neck, and threatened to shoot her in front of their 4-year-old son. The man was later found to have engaged in witness tampering, which continued to take place after the defendant was brought into custody.

Following the incident, the man was placed in jail on charges of assault. His ex-girlfriend told investigators she had dated the man for three years and that he took their breakup hard. During their time together, the man had reportedly emotionally abused her and threatened her. That abuse was never reported, according to the woman.

The woman recanted her statements to police on the May 3 incident at her ex-boyfriend's arraignment. According to sources, the man called his ex-girlfriend from jail and threatened to harm her if she failed to recant her statements to police. He convinced her to lie at his arraignment and submit a notarized letter freeing him from responsibility for the charges.

The woman's recanting of her statements did not, however, prevent her abuser from being put in jail and slapped with a protection order. It later came out that two of the man's cousins followed his ex-girlfriend to a meeting with prosecutors. They were later arrested on suspicion of obstruction, after they tried to steal the woman's phone and leave the courthouse.

The man now faces charges of second-degree assault, unlawful possession of a gun, witness tampering, and violation of a protection order.

Source: Seattle Post Intelligencer, "Charge: Jail bars weren't enough to stop domestic violence offender," Levi Pulkkinen, 17 June 2011.