Michael Avenatti accuser says he dragged her, left her with marks on skin

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Nov. 20, 2018 / 9:15 PM GMT

By Andrew Blankstein and Elisha Fieldstadt

The woman who accused Michael Avenatti of domestic abuse says he dragged her and left her with red marks and that it’s not the first time he had gotten aggressive with her, according to court documents

Avenatti, the attorney for porn star Stormy Daniels and one of President Donald Trump’s chief antagonists, was arrested last week on suspicion of felony domestic abuse. Officers in West Los Angeles detained him Wednesday while taking an incident report. He was booked but released on $50,000 bond.

Actress Mareli Miniutti, who filed for a temporary restraining order against Avenatti on Monday, said she’s been living with him since January. She said she and Avenatti got in an argument over money on the evening of Nov. 13 and the lawyer became verbally abusive, calling her an “ungrateful f****** b****.”

Miniutti said she retreated to the apartment’s guest bedroom, but Avenatti eventually followed her and got “very close to me in a threatening manner that made me feel afraid.” He started hitting her with pillows and told her “Do not disrespect me. You don’t get to sleep in my house tonight.”

He then grabbed her right wrist and attempted to pull her out of the bed, she said. When she started to text a friend, Avenatti grabbed her cell phone, Miniutti said.

Once he was successful in pulling her out of bed, he dragged her through the apartment and into the hallway, she said. But he pulled Miniutti back inside when she started ringing a neighbor’s doorbell.

The actress said she was wearing underwear and a t-shirt during the altercation and was scratched in the process. Photos she submitted with her request show red marks on her skin.

Once she pulled on pants and got out of the apartment, Miniutti wrote that Avenatti followed her, saying, “Don’t do this … don’t involve them.”

Miniutti said she went to a friend’s house, and when she noticed the red marks on her body, she called police to report the incident. Avenatti was arrested the next day.

“I have never been physically abusive in my life nor was I last night. Any accusations to the contrary are fabricated and meant to do harm to my reputation. I look forward to being fully exonerated,” Avenatti said in a statement at the time. He has since repeatedly denied the accusations on Twitter, and claims he has surveillance footage that shows he is innocent.

On Tuesday, he tweeted his request to have the building where the alleged incident happened turn over footage from Nov. 13 and Nov. 14 to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Miniutti, who is requesting a permanent restraining order, said that Tuesday’s incident wasn’t the first time Avenatti had been abusive. She said he once pushed her in the hallway, where she hit her head, and he threw shoes at her.