By Brandi Makuski

A 24-year-old man pleaded not guilty this week to charges of false imprisonment, misdemeanor battery, criminal damage to property and bail jumping.

Zachary Robl of Plover was arrested after two Plover police officers were called to a Mission Lane apartment on June 15. Robl had been living in the apartment rent-free with his girlfriend and her roommate for about two months, according to the complaint.

The woman’s roommate called police after she overheard Robl yelling in the background during a phone call home from her place of employment that morning. The roommate told police she was concerned because she had witnessed past abuse in their relationship.

No one answered the door when officers first arrived around 7 AM that day, but police returned when Robl’s girlfriend called them back several hours later. Officers observed the woman’s face was swollen and saw bruises on her arms, also noting the living room television was broken.

According to the criminal complaint, Robl and his girlfriend began to argue over a friend of Robl’s who had slept on the living room sofa the night before without the women’s permission or knowledge. The woman told police Robl punched her in the face, and said she pushed and kicked him in self-defense. Throughout the next several hours, according to the complaint, Robl struck the woman in the face at last twice more, and once in the ribs, also pinning her to the bed to prevent her escape, causing the bruises on her arms.

Robl also punched a 42-inch high-definition television belonging to woman, breaking the screen. Officers noted debris from the broken television was still on the floor, indicating the damage was recent.

When asked why no one answered the door the first time officers arrived that morning, the woman said she and Robl, as well as Robl’s overnight guest, hid in a back room because “she didn’t want Mr. Robl to get into trouble…she was afraid of him.”

Robl has a lengthy criminal past including a 2013 conviction of theft of movable property in Wood County, and in 2008 pleaded guilty to several counts of misdemeanor graffiti in Milwaukee.

Robl was also out on bond in June for a charge of fraud against financial institution. He was given a $5,000 signature bond for the June case, and returns to court Nov. 2.

If convicted, he faces eight years in prison for the charge of false imprisonment and nine months for each of the other charges, and up to $40,000 in fines.