Dominic Count kidnaps girlfriend in attempt to prevent drunk driving

23-year-old Dominic Count had a domestic incident with his girlfriend, Ana Barretto, at his apartment in the early hours of March 13th. An uninvolved third party reported this and alerted the authorities, who arrived and spoke with Count. Count told them that he and Barretto had both been consuming alcohol throughout the night in downtown Nashville, ordered a Lyft to go to his apartment, and argued on the way there. Once at Count's apartment, Count believed Barretto was trying to leave and drive home to Clarksville, TN. So, Count attempted to force Barretto to stay the night, believing she was too drunk to operate a car. He said Barretto insisted on leaving and that the incident escalated when she started punching and slapping him, during which she grabbed a knife. Count explained that he feared for his safety and tried to grab the knife from her but ended up cutting her hand accidentally. Count also added that he briefly put Barretto in a choke hold to restrain her. Then, detectives met with Barretto, who gave a similar statement regarding the dispute, confirming that she wanted to leave and intended to get an Uber since she was intoxicated. She said that Count's argumentative behavior made her feel threatened, so she grabbed a kitchen knife for self-defense. Barretto also noted that she felt scared and unable to leave after Count accidentally cut her hand. Then, she reported that he “choked” her twice, both times for approximately seven seconds. During the investigation, Count voluntarily provided officers with a cell phone video, which captured a portion of the incident from a table next to the bed in the apartment. The footage showed Count throwing Barretto onto the bed repeatedly whenever she tried to exit the apartment and restricting her freedom of movement. Then, he grabbed her from behind with both arms as she said, “I cannot breathe.” They fell backward onto the bed, where Count mounted Barretto and wrapped his hand around her throat, stating, “I am going to choke you out and make you go the fuck to sleep.” After he released her neck from his grip, she can be heard coughing on the video. Barretto was transported to St. Thomas Midtown Hospital for further evaluation, where they gave her three stitches in her right hand. Additionally, she sustained minor scratches and bruising from around her neck. Count was deemed as the primary aggressor and was taken into custody for aggravated kidnapping.