A Kirtland man reportedly attacked and battered two of his siblings and threw food around the house after a disagreement over “cheesy potatoes,” authorities say.
Rodrigo Toscano, 23, of Kirtland, wanted his brother Ernesto Toscano “to eat the cheesy potatoes,” instead of the regular mashed potatoes, but Ernesto did not want them, which reportedly sent Rodrigo into a violent tirade, according to the statement of probable cause.
San Juan County Sheriff’s Office deputies were called at 11:32 a.m. March 29 to the home on County Road 6409. Upon arrival, Ernesto Toscano and his sister, who is a minor, told investigators that Rodrigo “had battered them and ‘choked,’ both of them,” according to the statement of probable cause.
Rodrigo Toscano also reportedly “grabbed a knife” and “started stabbing a cutting board on the island counter,” in the kitchen, leading his 17-year-old sister to tell deputies that “she felt very scared,” and that when “Rodrigo gets angry, he will grab knifes and start stabbing things,” according to the probable cause statement.
The young woman also said that Rodrigo Toscano “never attempted to stab them,” but he allegedly “grabbed her by the neck with his hands” and choked her. He also reportedly caused her to lose her breath and scratched her, breaking the skin, according to the statement of probable cause.
After his fight with his sister, Rodrigo Toscano reportedly grabbed “lemons from a table in the living room and was throwing them down onto the ground,” and then, he went into Ernesto Toscano’s room, where the two reportedly exchanged “blows” and threw “food at each other,” according to the probable cause statement.
Rodrigo reportedly admitted to all the allegations and was charged with two counts of third-degree felony aggravated batteries with a deadly weapon. He was booked into the San Juan County Detention Center, and a public safety assessment recommended he be released on his own recognizance.
A preliminary hearing is set for 8 a.m. April 11 in San Juan County Magistrate Court.
