KENOSHA, Wis. — A Kenosha man is facing felony and misdemeanor charges after sheriff’s deputies say he assaulted and choked his girlfriend during a violent confrontation Thursday night, all while out on bond in another domestic abuse case.

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Eric W. Gragen, 43, was formally charged Friday in Kenosha County Circuit Court with five criminal counts: strangulation and suffocation (domestic abuse), battery (domestic abuse), criminal damage to property, disorderly conduct (domestic abuse), and misdemeanor bail jumping. All of the charges stem from an incident that allegedly occurred late Thursday at a residence on the 1400 block of 95th Avenue, where Gragen had reportedly been living with the victim for about eight months.

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According to the criminal complaint, deputies from the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office responded to the residence at approximately 10:22 p.m. after a woman called 911 stating she had been assaulted and choked by Gragen. She told dispatchers that she had returned home after playing kickball with neighborhood friends, at which point Gragen—who had been drinking—became enraged after seeing communication between her and an ex-boyfriend on her phone.

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The woman said Gragen initially confronted her in public, grabbing her purse and yelling, before storming back to the house. When she returned home a short time later, the argument continued to escalate. The victim told deputies that Gragen grabbed both of her arms—causing visible redness—then used his right hand to grab her neck, restricting her ability to breathe. She said she began swatting at him until he eventually let go, only to then pull her by the hair and continue shouting threats, including that he would “burn this whole place down” and that the only way to get him to leave was to call the police.

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During the altercation, Gragen allegedly broke a vase belonging to the woman. When deputies arrived, they documented red marks on her neck consistent with her account of being choked, and she invoked her right to a 72-hour no-contact order.

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Deputies then interviewed Gragen, who appeared visibly intoxicated. According to the report, he had bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, and smelled strongly of alcohol. When confronted, he reportedly admitted to drinking and told deputies on body-worn camera, “I’m buzzed, but she’s fucked up.”

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At the time of the incident, Gragen was out on bond in a pending misdemeanor case—Kenosha County Case No. 2025CM671—in which he was charged with two counts of disorderly conduct and one count of battery, all as a repeater. As a condition of that bond, signed on May 23 before Court Commissioner William Michel II, Gragen was prohibited from consuming alcohol. Thursday’s alleged conduct formed the basis for the bail jumping charge.

Gragen appeared in court Friday afternoon, where Commissioner Michel again presided and ordered a $5,000 cash bail. Gragen is prohibited from contacting the victim and must maintain absolute sobriety while the case is pending.

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for July 24.

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