MEDFORD, Ore. — A man best known for his childhood acting role on the 1990s sitcom ‘Home Improvement’ allegedly left his former girlfriend bloodied and bruised after a fight that started over cellphone cables.
The Lane County District Attorney’s Office charged Zachery Ty Bryan, 39, of Laguna Beach, California, with felony domestic violence charges including coercion and strangulation that stem from an Oct. 16 incidentat a newer apartment complex in Eugene, according to documents filed Thursday in Lane County Circuit Court.
The victim told Eugene police that Bryan slammed her head and choked her before she called 911 for help at 10:21 p.m. Saturday, according to a three-page affidavit filed by police in the case Thursday.
The victim told police that she’d been in a relationship with Bryan for two years, and that Bryan had become physically abusive “one month prior,” and that the abuse “had been escalating in severity ever since,” according to the affidavit filed Thursday.
At about 9:20 p.m. that night, Bryan grabbed the victim out of bed by the hair with one hand, and “feigned punches about the head and face” with the other while allegedly shouting at her, “where the f— are my cords?”
The victim said Bryan banged her head against the wall and stairs as they struggled on the stairway. The victim stated he started striking her on in the face and head, and “punched / slapped the victim approximately five to ten times.”
A struggle ensued on the stairs, where the victim claimed Bryan grabbed her neck with both hands and choked her. She claimed her breathing was entirely cut off for at least 45 seconds.
The woman ultimately broke free, grabbed her phone downstairs and called 911. After dialing, Bryan allegedly took her phone and hung up the line.
When 911 dispatchers called back, the woman said Bryan let her answer the call but stood very close and listened to the call.
Dispatchers corroborated portions of the woman’s account, telling investigators that the line was prematurely disconnected, and that they heard a male voice in the background of their follow-up call.
When police arrived on scene, they found the woman at a neighbor’s apartment, and Bryan waiting outside the apartment.
The woman’s injuries included dried blood on her upper lip and under her right nostril, as well as the left side of her lower lip.
Police say they observed three “small crescent shaped discolorations on the left side of her neck” which they said were “consistent with fingernails.”
On the victim’s scalp they found “three distinct goose-egg style lumps.” One of the lumps was “about the size of a lemon.”
The document describes two attempts police made to get Bryan’s side of the story, but in both instances Bryan was vague and evasive.
When an officer asked questions such as, “what were you arguing about?” Bryan’s answer was, “I don’t even know.”
When the officer asked what the woman said to him, Bryan’s response was, “She’s trying to take me down.”
Later in the evening, police say Bryan was “still evasive and painfully vague.”
“The only story I was able to piece together was that the victim woke Bryan up, the two went downstairs to drink, the victim got mad at Bryan because Bryan is in the process of breaking up with the victim,” the police affidavit states.
Bryan was released from the Lane County Jail Saturday after posting $8,500 bond, court records show. His initial court appearance is currently set for Friday afternoon.
