Since it keeps getting pulled here's the main declaration cut and pasted -
CASE NAME: Lucie Colomb v. Laith Abdallah Algaz CASE NUMBER:
DECLARATION OF LUCIE COLOMB
I, Lucie Colomb, Petitioner in this action and if called upon, could and would testify
from my personal knowledge to the following:
SUMMARY:
1. I respectfully request the Court to grant me the protection of the restraining order.
a. Petitioner shall be granted an Order of Protection, protecting me and my baby
daughter protection from Respondent.
b. Petitioner shall have primary/sole custody of our daughter.
c. Our dog and cat, who remain in the apartment with Respondent, shall be
removed from the home for their safety.
BACKGROUND HISTORY:
Respondent and I were married on March 4, 2020 and separated on February 23, 2022.
However, we have been together for three and a half (3 & 1/2) years. We have a baby daughter together- Arabella Bint Laith Algaz. Arabella was born on August 3, 2021. During our relationship, Respondent has abused alcohol and drugs, and has been extremely verbally and emotionally abusive towards me and our daughter, and physically threatening towards me. In or around November 2020, when I became pregnant, Respondent's abusive behavior dramatically escalated. He has alienated me from all my friends. refusing to allow me to leave our apartment.
The few times I left the home, he required I ask him for permission. He has stated in person and multiple text messages that he wants nothing to do with "the daughter", "your daughter" (our child), and that he resents her because she reminds him of me. He has become physically violent, especially when he drinks, wherein he will throw items, aggressively, near me, when he is angry. He has kicked me out multiple times, but I was too afraid to leave. Finally, on February 23, 2022, after he became angry again and indicated he was going to be drinking heavily, I took our baby daughter out of the apartment because I was terrified of his abuse. Most recently, on March 1, 2022, Respondent texted me, threatening, "murder bitch".
DV: 100- RECENT ABUSE:
My husband has a history of alcohol abuse and domestic violence. He was imprisoned for felony domestic abuse (against a former girlfriend) in the past. On March 1, 2022, Respondent texted me, "murder bitch", after I left our apartment on February 23, 2022 with our baby daughter, due to his verbal abuse and explosive temper.
On February 22, 2022, Respondent's abusive behavior came to a head, when he exploded in anger because he could not find milk in the refrigerator at 5:00 a.m. My younger sister Anais Colomb was visiting me from France at the time and was staying with me in the apartment I share with Respondent and our baby. Only because my sister was visiting, Respondent did not verbally scream at me, and instead, began sending me abusive text messages. Respondent was furious that the two cartons of milk he was searching for were placed in the back of the refrigerator, rather than in the front. He accused me (via text) of hiding his milk, texting me,
"FUCKING IDIOT...YOU THINK I CANT SEE IT...I TOLD YOU 50 fucking times. ITS NOT A GOD DAMN JOKE. YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO RE ORGANIZE THE FRIDGE...WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU. THIS IS MY HOUSE...YOU ARE BEING A FUCKING BITCH AS USUAL...CARELESS...I COMPLAINED...INSANNNNNE. ..All you French fucks are insane. I don't know how you can tolerate each other...Dumb bitch. Keep your mouth quiet next time."
Please see all text messages referenced in this declaration, attached as Exhibit 1.
Also on February 23rd, Respondent texted me, calling me a "bitch", "dumb bitch", "fucking bitch", repeatedly. He texted, "You should have lived to serve me instead of feeling sorry for yourself 24/7", and, "do you think my wife treats me like a boss? Am I a boss in my own apartment? No." He also texted me, "My biggest regret is speaking well of you behind your back in ways you didn't deserve...Your selfishness is unparalleled." Respondent also berated me for crying in front of my sister Anais, who was with me in the apartment, stating, "crying in front of your sister for gods sake. What a traitor...You could have gone into the room like any responsible adult would that didn't want attention and drama. But your selfish soul led you to this again." Exhibit 1.
After our daughter Arabella was born in August 2021, Respondent frequently said that he wanted a son, and that our daughter would not be able to "carry his lion"- meaning, she would never be able to carry his last name. He frequently said, "Now I am stuck with you because we have a daughter and I wanted a son." Respondent has a lot of hatred for people of different races and ethnicities. Because I was with an Armenian boyfriend many years before I met Respondent, he called me a "whore" and said he did not want our daughter to turn out like me.
On February 25, 2022, Respondent texted me, "I am totally unwilling to be involved in the raising of a girl who well end up sleeping with Armenians as a teenager, like you did. This will humiliate me and burn my soul as an Arab man, so I will have nothing to do with her life after the kidnapping (unless you return her, soon, and have zero custody yourself)." Exhibit 1.
Respondent has repeatedly expressed disdain for our baby daughter. On February 23, 2022, Respondent texted me, "I end up hating you and the daughter...I can't give a shit now about either of you because I spent months imagining she dislikes me and I'm a bad father and I associated her with you. Such a bitch move.". On the same day, he texted me, "I am happy with the way I treated you and believe you deserve much worse treatment...You deserve much worse. MUCH." Also, on this day, he texted, "If you act like a bitch, I believe calling you a bitch is 100% honorable and within my ethical code." Exhibit 1.
When I left the house on February 23, 2022, he sent me texts characterizing our 7-month- old daughter Arabella as "your daughter", and said he wanted nothing to do with her, since I left.
On February 24, 2022, he texted me, "You caused your daughter to lose a father...human scum...I won't take this kid back, so there's no way in hell it will ever happen to me again...I do not wish to see her again. I told you if you kidnap my child she is not my child again...I will not co-parent...She is not my daughter." Exhibit 1. I fear for the safety of my daughter Arabella.
I became a citizen in January 2021. After I left the apartment on February 23rd, Respondent threatened multiple times that he would contact immigration services to have me deported. He continues to make these threats to try to intimidate me.
In the last week since I left the apartment with our baby, Respondent has tried to convince me in messages and calls that I should not trust my closest friends nor my own sister. He says that they are all brainwashing me, they are losers, and that I should no longer speak with them. On a phone call after I left, he stated that while he regretted some of his actions, I was at fault for "kidnapping" our baby and leaving our apartment. He told me that I should return, but beforeI did so, I must apologize to him and demonstrate I was sorry for leaving. He also said he wanted the names of each friend I spoke with about us when I left, so he could contact them.
He texted two of my closest friends on March 3rd, trying to get them to call him He continues to call me, causing me anxiety and confusion. Just today, he again threatened to have me deported, told me I had "kidnapped" our daughter, and he must be granted access to her.
DV: 100- PRIOR ABUSE:
During our marriage, I have suffered extreme emotional and verbal abuse by the actions of Respondent. In or around April/May 2020, Respondent began drinking, after years of sobriety. He also began smoking weed. He frequently would order alcohol to be delivered to our apartment. After I became pregnant in November of 2020, Respondent became extremely controlling and angry. He frequently complained that I was selfish, lazy, and giving him less attention than he deserved. Respondent would frequently degrade me, calling me, "lazy", and said that I did not do a good enough job in my work with him. I helped him start a YouTube channel in January 2020, because I have a strong marketing background. Respondent expected me to manage my pregnancy alone, while carrying the business we created. When I needed to tend to my needs because I was pregnant, he called me "selfish", stating I was "mistreating" him He constantly complained that I was not "doing enough" for him. If I didn't anticipate his every whim and ask him if he needed anything, he degraded me, saying I was a "stupid bitch", "lazy", "selfish".
During my pregnancy, Respondent alienated me from my friends. I have a small circle of very close friends who are my only family in the US (because I am from France). He told me repeatedly that it was selfish if I spent any time with them. On the rare occasions I tried to make plans with my closest friends, Respondent would become very angry, saying we had work to do, that I was selfish, and that I had to remain at home. Therefore, despite my close friendships, I almost never saw any friends after I became pregnant. On one occasion, I had to sneak out of the apartment when Respondent was not home, so I could see one of my closest friends and she could meet our baby. I did not tell Respondent, because I feared he would become angry.
During Christmastime in 2021. I tried to visit a couple of my close friends, with our baby, for just the day. My dear friend Sarah had invited me to share a Christmas meal with her. I also had a friend visiting from France, who wanted to see me. I was so concerned about Respondent being angry about me leaving, even for a short time, that I asked his permission to leave. He was passed out from being drunk the night before when I asked him, and he said it was fine. I returned that night to find Respondent passed out again. The next morning, after hearing our daughter cry, he became very angry, yelling at me for leaving the day before. He said that I had "kidnapped" our baby and that I had no right to leave. Respondent yelled that if he did not give me permission, I had no right to leave our apartment.
When Respondent drinks, he becomes even angrier than normal and hallucinates. On several occasions when Respondent was extremely drunk, he threw items around the house in fits of rage. In or around April 14, 2021, Respondent became very drunk late at night, and began hallucinating that he was in a gang war. He started screaming belligerently, yelling, "Ni - - er!" and threw a metal dog cage across the room. That night, he also began yelling at our dogs Theeb (German Shepherd) and Simba (a small Pomeranian). He was angry with the dogs and began calling them to him and hitting them. Please see audio recordings of Respondent belligerently yelling at me, and hitting our dogs, as Exhibit 2 (thumb drive).
One night, in the Spring of 2021, Respondent got so drunk and angry that I became terrified and hid in my bedroom. I was 6 months pregnant, and he was extremely belligerent, hallucinating, and yelling. To protect myself and my unborn baby, I pushed a small sofa against the door to help me keep the door closed in the bedroom where I was hiding. When Respondent tried to enter the room and realized I had blocked the door, he exploded in anger and beat the door off its hinges. At that point, I was in the room, hiding on the floor. After he broke the door down, he was screaming and hallucinating, thinking I was a rival gang member. Finally, he passed out. He had no memory of his abusive behavior in the morning.
Because he had no memory of this event and others, he would state that he had no responsibility for his actions. If I tried to talk to him about his actions, he centered on himself as though he was the victim, saying that had probably triggered him into being angry and that I was trying to make him feel bad.
Before I met Respondent, I worked regularly and had pride in my work. After Respondent and I became married, he told me that I should only work with him, alienating me from my prior work, which involved marketing and working with outside clients. His controlling and demeaning words and actions caused me to sever all my outside streams of income and only serve his needs in the home and in our finances and work.
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed on March 3, 2022 at Los Angeles, California.
Lucie Colomb
Poster's Note - N word edited to Ni--er because of forum software, appears as actual word in original.
