Laramie Man Sentenced for Strangulation

A Laramie man will go to prison for the strangulation of a woman last October.

Following a July 23 guilty plea, 40-year-old Bryan Edward Penatac was sentenced in District Court yesterday to 4 ½-5 years in prison for felony strangulation of a household member.  He had also been charged with misdemeanor battery, but that charge was dropped in exchange for Penatac’s guilty plea on the felony.

As part of the sentence, Judge Donnell recommended Penatac to the intensive treatment unit.  Penatac was ordered to have no contact with the victim.

On the afternoon of Oct. 28, 2014, Laramie Police began to investigate a woman’s claim that she’d been assaulted by her boyfriend, Bryan Penatac, three days prior.  According to court documents, the victim said that she had been dating him since Sept. 22.

The victim said that Penatac had come to her apartment on Oct. 25.  She said he was highly intoxicated, and got upset when she refused to be intimate with him.

Court documents say that at the victim’s refusal, Penatac pushed his forearm into the front of her throat and forced the victim to fall down on the bedroom floor.  Penatac straddled her and continued applying pressure to her neck, restricting her breathing.  The affidavit says the victim feared for her life as she lost consciousness.

After being unconscious for an unknown amount of time, the victim woke up and vomited with Penatac still on top of her.  Penatac got up at that point, and the victim was able to make it into the hall of the apartment building. A neighbor asked her if she was alright, and Penatac took off.

The victim went to Ivinson Memorial Hospital for treatment on Oct. 28.  She also attempted to contact Penatac at his residence and by phone that day.  Her phone calls went unanswered, but shortly after leaving his residence, court documents say that the victim received text messages from Penatac.

In the messages, he allegedly said that he knew the police were looking for him, and he intended to flee Laramie to avoid going back to prison.

This is Penatac’s third violent felony conviction.