Family members of George Villanueva—the Brooklyn man charged with murder after he allegedly pushed officer Alain Schaberger off a stoop, causing him to break his neck—continue to say Schaberger's death was an accident. One relative told the Daily News, "It was not intentional. There's no way that he...pushed him over." However, Villanueva had a long history of violence and crime, especially with girlfriend Kim Dykstra, who previously refused to testify against him.
Dykstra placed the 911 call against Villanueva on Sunday, claiming that Villanueva had threatened to kill her. This was apparently not the first time; Villanueva had been arrested in November, December and February for beating Dykstra. However, she reportedly signed affidavits saying she would not testify against Villanueva, who has been behind bars three times in the last two decades. Brooklyn DA SVU chief Wanda Lucibello told the Times that it's tough to bring domestic abuse cases to a conviction: “Along with the threats and the coercion, sometimes love is mixed in with it, too—and untangling all of that while trying to help the victim is not easy.” Of the 20 domestic incident reports filed concerning Villanueva, six were filed by Dykstra. Nine were filed by an ex-wife.
Villanueva's family had reportedly encouraged him to end his relationship with Dykstra, and one blamed her for what happened: "Poor cop lost his life because of her." Somehow we think Villanueva isn't off the hook yet.
