A Glennwilde man turned himself into the Maricopa Police Department after strangling his sister and then fleeing the scene, the department reports.

MPD officers around 8 p.m. Monday night were dispatched to Barcelona Drive home where a woman reported that she was being actively strangled by her brother.

When officers arrived, 26-year-old Joseph Gutierrez had already fled, and the victim was standing on a nearby street corner with fresh and dried blood on her face.  

The sister told police that Gutierrez attacked her in her bathroom, choking her with both hands. She said she almost lost consciousness, and would have, if her boyfriend did not intervene.  

The boyfriend, who was elsewhere in the home when the alleged strangulation took place, said he witnessed Gutierrez strangling his sister and pulled him off of her. That’s when Gutierrez sprinted out of the house, he said, adding he did not know where Gutierrez had fled to.   

In police documents, officers stated the sister had abrasions on her throat consistent with strangulation.  

Gutierrez turned himself in at the Maricopa Police Station the next day and told police he had no recollection of what happened as he was too drunk.

Gutierrez was arrested and booked into the Pinal County jail on charges of aggravated assault, assault and disorderly conduct. If convicted on all counts, Gutierrez faces up to 17 years in prison.