photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Servando Martinez-Vazquez is pictured Thursday, June 27, 2024, at his trial for aggravated domestic battery and other charges in Douglas County District Court.

A prosecutor made a strong case on Monday for a high bond amount in keeping an alleged habitual Lawrence domestic abuser in jail.

Douglas County Deputy District David Greenwald said that defendant Servando Joel Martinez Vazquez, 25, had accumulated several charges of domestic battery since 2019 and in the most recent allegations, he is alleged to have battered a woman who has a protection order against him, which Greenwald said indicates Martinez-Vazquez does not care about court orders.

He asked the court to set Martinez-Vazquez’s bond at $10,000 despite only being charged with misdemeanors. He said that prior to Martinez-Vazquez’s appearance on Monday, a counselor who led Martinez-Vazquez in a court-ordered batterer’s intervention course independently reached out to Greenwald ahead of the hearing and said that Martinez-Vazquez scored high on recidivism tests.

“He scored the highest risk of recidivism (the counselor) has ever seen,” Greenwald said.

Martinez-Vazquez is charged with one count of domestic battery, one count of criminal damage, one count of battery on a law enforcement officer, and one count of interference with law enforcement for resisting arrest, all misdemeanors. The charges are in connection with an incident on Feb. 8 in the 2200 block of Crestline Court.

Greenwald said that Martinez-Vazquez is a threat to the community at large and that Martinez-Vazquez is currently on probation for two previous convictions.

Martinez-Vazquez said he disagreed with the high bond amount and asked the court to leave the bond where it was when he was arrested. He said he thought it was around $1,000.

Judge Blake Glover said a bond had not been set in Martinez-Vazquez’s case and that he would follow Greenwald’s recommendation. He then scheduled Martinez-Vazquez to next appear in court on Feb. 18.

Martinez-Vazquez is currently scheduled for trial in April in another case and is charged with one misdemeanor count each of battery and criminal damage. The charges relate to an incident on August 4, 2024.

As the Journal-World reported, Martinez-Vazquez was placed on probation in October 2024 for felony criminal threat after he was convicted at trial. He also was convicted in June 2024 for beating a woman with a sex toy.