SAN DIEGO ---- A jobless young man was jailed Friday for allegedly slamming his live-in girlfriend's 20-month-old son into a dresser in a drunken rage in their City Heights apartment and pummeling a relative who tried to stop him.
Cory Devon Demery, 20, also fought with patrol officers who responded to the incident, kicking one in the head, San Diego police Lt. Andra Brown said.
Medics took the toddler to Rady Children's Hospital for evaluation of minor injuries, including bruises to his chest and face, Brown said.
Police received an emergency call about the domestic disturbance in the 4200 block of 36th Street about 9:45 p.m. Thursday.
Demery's girlfriend, who turned 24 on Friday, told officers the suspect had picked up her son by the ankles and swung him into a chest of drawers. When her 40-year-old brother intervened, Demery allegedly attacked him, then chased him out of the apartment and continued beating him up across the street.
The older man eventually fled back into the couple's residence and locked himself inside, along with his sister and nephew. Demery then broke out a window, cutting his hands in the process, according to police.
When officers arrived, the suspect was initially cooperative, but became combative when they took him into custody, Brown said. They had to put him in "maximum restraint," binding his ankles as well as his wrists, when he continued resisting, the lieutenant said.
They then took Demery to a hospital for treatment of his self-inflicted injuries. Once there, he allegedly struggled with medical staffers, trying to kick and bite them.
The woman's brother also was taken to an emergency room, where he received 17 stitches for facial lacerations, Brown said. The officer who was kicked required no hospital treatment, Brown said.
Demery, who reportedly had been drinking heavily for several days, was booked into county jail on suspicion of assault, battery and cruelty to a child. His bail was set at $85,500.
It was unclear if anything other than intoxication motivated the rampage, because Demery refused to give a statement to officers, the lieutenant said.
The suspect is not the father of his girlfriend's baby, police said.





