ABQ man accused of hitting his wife several times, burning her forearm with cigarette 

A 40-year-old man has been accused of hitting his wife in the back of the head several times and inflicting other kinds of injuries.  

At about 10:50 p.m. April 27, the Rio Rancho Police Department responded to a call of domestic violence on the 600 block of Vancouver Road.  

When they arrived, a woman said she and her husband, Jason Raffay of Albuquerque, were at Latitudes that afternoon when they got into an argument over whether he cheated on her.  

Raffay then drove them to Haynes Park. After he parked, he allegedly hit her underneath her left eye. She attempted to block additional attacks by lifting her left forearm to her face.  

The suspect then took out a metal baton and hit her legs with it, according to a criminal complaint.   

The couple drove off and headed for a gas station on Unser and McMahon boulevards when they resumed their argument.  She told Raffay to take her home, but he refused. Instead, he drove to a parking lot off Golf Course Road and Westside Boulevard where he allegedly resumed hitting her numerous times on the head and arm.  

The victim asked Raffay to take her to a home on the 3000 block of Sue Circle. While he drove around the address, he did not stop. She tried to call 911, but he grabbed the phone and broke it, the complaint states.  At some point, he reportedly threatened to shoot her while she was inside the vehicle with him, but he never “produced” a firearm.  

The victim briefly lost consciousness while riding in the car with Raffay due to being hit on the head numerous times. 

When he drove down Sue Circle again, she got up then left the vehicle and ran to a house where she used someone’s phone to call her mother to take her to the hospital. 

The victim suffered a large bruise on her left forearm and a bruise under her left eye.  The officer later noticed “small injuries” to her forearm that was “consistent to her statement of being burned by cigarettes,” the complaint states.  

RRPD was able to locate Raffay over a week later and arrested him on a warrant.

He is accused of aggravated battery against a household member (great bodily harm), false imprisonment, criminal damage to the property of a household member, and interference with communications.   

Raffay made no plea at his May 9 initial appearance.  A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for 8:30 a.m. June 7.   

If convicted, he could face up to 6.5 years in prison and pay a $12,000 fine.