The Seattle Times reports that a prison guard from Monroe was arrested and placed in jail on Tuesday to be investigated on charges of domestic violence.

The 29-year-old man's wife apparently accused him of assaulting her earlier this month at the couple's Monroe home. After the incident, she apparently was treated at a local hospital for multiple bruises-over 75 from her had to her feet.

On Tuesday, the man reportedly approached police to give his side of the story, which involved using a defense technique to protect himself from his wife alleged aggression. Specifically, the man said he used the "hammer fist" technique he had acquired in his training as a police guard for the Department of Corrections in a special offender unit for psychologically ill prisoners.

The man had been working there since 2007. According to the man, his wife put the barrel of a gun in his face and threatened him during an altercation. At some point during that dispute, his wife had alleged struck him repeatedly with a dog collar while he was on the floor.

The judge in charge of the man's case set bail at $50,000 on Tuesday, and ordered the officer to have no contact with his wife, $40,000 more than his defense attorney had requested.

Sources said that the man's wife told police of her nine-year abusive relationship, in which he would frequently strike her with his fists, elbows and knees, and put her in strangleholds. She also accused him of threatening her with a gun on one occasion. After the most recent assault, she said she grabbed her children and hid in an alley near their home until a relative picked them up.

Source: Herald Net, "Monroe corrections officer jailed in alleged assault on wife," Eric Stevick, 27 July 2011.