Neighbors heard a woman screaming and crying at home in South Redondo Beach late Sunday night
Professional hockey player Viatcheslav “Slava” Voynov has been suspended indefinitely from the Los Angeles Kings, pending a National Hockey League investigation, after he was arrested early Monday morning on charges of domestic violence.
Around 11:25 p.m. Sunday night, the Redondo Beach Police Department responded to a house on the 800 block of Avenue C in South Redondo Beach after a neighbor reported “that a female could be heard screaming for the past twenty minutes and could now be heard crying,” according to Lt. Joe Hoffman.
The victim, who wished to remain anonymous, was treated at the emergency room of Torrance’s Little Company of Mary Hospital early Monday morning. According to police, the nurse attending to the victim became suspicious of how the injuries were sustained. Torrance police were alerted and contacted the RBPD. Voynov was present at the hospital, and after an investigation by Redondo Beach police, he was arrested in the hospital lobby and charged with section 273.5 of the California penal code, which states that any person who “willfully inflicts corporal injury…upon a victim” is guilty of a felony and subject to up to a four-year prison sentence and/or a $6,000 fine.”
“We’re conducting our own investigation,” Craig Renetzky, Voynov’s attorney, said. “We don’t have anything to comment on quite yet. There should be no rush to judgment, and we’ll see what we find out.”
Renetzky previously represented Drew Doughty and Mark Hardy of the Kings when they were accused in sexual-assault cases. Doughty never was charged.
Voynov, 24, is one of the Kings’ top defensemen and a member of both of their Stanley Cup championship teams.
“Domestic violence is treated very seriously throughout the State of California,” said Redondo Beach Police Lieutenant Joe Hoffman. “We’ve taken it one step further with the domestic violence advocate program to help the victims as much as we can, and through the aggressive actions of the courts we strive to see domestic violence cases reduced.”
The RBPD Domestic Violence (DV) Victims Advocacy Program was founded in 1996 and is jointly funded by the Beach Cities Health District. Comprised of 16 current community volunteers, the program offers emergency assistance, emotional support and counseling, assistance with shelters, safety planning, and other services to victims of domestic violence. Volunteers are on call 24/7 every day of the year as calls from victims can come at any time. The program receives calls from residents of other cities and visitors, and no one is turned away.
“Monday Night Football is a time when we get a lot of calls,” said Ericka Gonzalez, the DV Advocacy Program coordinator. “We see spikes during Mothers Day, Valentine’s Day and during the holidays.”
Gonzalez says 15 percent of domestic violence victims are men. The number of documented cases continue to rise, she said, because as awareness of the issue grows, more people report domestic abuse. October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Voynov was released from the Redondo Beach jail unit around 9 a.m. Monday morning after posting his $50,000 bail. The victim was treated for injuries, none of which police believes were inflicted by weapons, and released Monday morning. It is still unclear whether the residence on the 800 block of Avenue C is shared by the victim and the suspect.
Additional reporting by Rich Hammond/Orange County Register
