Savage arrested again for partner assault

Dan “DJ” Savage was arrested after a July 11 partner or family-member assault complaint from his girlfriend Sandra Laffoon.

Savage, who has a history with assault, is being held at Lincoln County Detention Center until his arraignment for the assault charge at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 11.

At the time of arrest, Savage was living under a probation of three years after pleading guilty to another charge of assault from 2013. 

Then, on July 11, Laffoon went to authorities claiming that Savage had been violent towards her and threw her phone. She said she fled the situation out of fear. She said he followed her and grabbed her by the wrist. 

County Attorney Bernard Cassidy said Savage was arrested because of his history with assault and due to the fact that Laffoon repeatedly said Savage made her feel scared.

Savage’s history of assault peaked in fall 2013 when he was arrested in Portland, Ore., after an Aug. 29 incident in which he assaulted Laffoon. It was Savage’s third assault charge, which made it a felony. 

In 2008, Savage pleaded no contest to partner or family-member assault; in 2010, another partner or family-member assault charge was dismissed without prejudice; and in January 2013, he was acquitted on three charges, including a partner or family-member assault charge.

The new July 11 charge is Savage’s fourth assault charge, another felony with the same consequences, Cassidy said. The maximum penalty for a felony partner family-member assault is five years in prison and a fine of $50,000.

Cassidy said Laffoon’s complaint means that Savage broke his probation terms, which split his case into two: the first being the assault charge and the second being the violation of probation. Cassidy said because Savage has also neither found a job nor gotten into anger management counseling as his probation requires, this assault charge would be the third count against Savage for probation violation. 

Savage will be in court Aug. 22 to face the charge of probation violation. 

A pre-trial hearing will be held Nov. 17 regarding the assault charge. 

If Savage is found not guilty on the assault charge, he can still be found guilty for breaking his probation.