Man Sentenced to Jail for Injuring Girlfriend, Others

VAN NUYS — A 34-year-old Arleta man was sentenced to eight months in jail for two separate attacks--one on his live-in girlfriend and the other on her new boyfriend and two police officers two months later, authorities said Monday.

James Patrick Saillant, who pleaded no contest to one count each of spousal battery and assault with a deadly weapon, was also ordered to stay away from the victims and placed on three years’ unsupervised probation, said Mike Qualls, a Los Angeles city attorney’s spokesman.

Saillant also was found in violation of probation for three prior convictions--drug possession and two counts of driving with a revoked license. While on probation, he must complete a year in a domestic violence counseling program.

The first attack occurred Aug. 9 as Saillant argued with his 39-year-old girlfriend at their Van Nuys apartment. Saillant pushed her against the wall and tried to tie her up with a telephone cord, prosecutors said.

Police said the woman had cuts on her left forearm and chest.

The second assault occurred Oct. 17, when Saillant and the woman were not dating anymore, prosecutors said.

Saillant went to the home of the the woman’s new boyfriend and beat him with a metal pipe, according to prosecutors.

When police arrived, they found Saillant hiding in bushes and handcuffed him, Qualls said. Saillant complained the cuffs were too tight, and when one of the officers tried to loosen them, Saillant attacked him, inflicting cuts on his head and forearm and causing a swollen lip, Qualls said.