Laura Dean says she has always known that her partner of 14 years suffered from mental health issues but after they lost their RV in the Almeda fire in the middle of a global pandemic she said things hit a breaking point.

"I think that he maybe had a psychotic break because he is Paranoid Schizophrenic so his behavior became worse and worse as time went on and I suspected that he was doing drugs," she said. "He's already got his (mental health) problem and then that on top of it!"

The couple relocated to a trailer provided by FEMA and Dean said she tried to leave a handful of times.

"I had moved out for a little while and then moved back in and he'd like sweet-talk you into coming back and I was dumb enough to keep going back. He ended up taking money that I had been saving to try to move out on my own," she said.

Dean said after she confronted him about the stolen money on October 2 he got aggressive with her.

"He ended up coming in (to the trailer) and pushing me and shoving me down on the ground knocked me down, I hit one side of my body, almost hit the coffee table so I called the cops," she said.

Aaron Lewis, a spokesman for the Jackson County Sheriff Office confirmed that her boyfriend, Richard Garibay, was arrested that night for assault and twice more in the days that followed for violating a no-contact that was put in place to protect Dean.

"The fact that they hold him for 12 hours and he had three arrests," Dean said, "they don't do anything, for the mental health portion of it and they know that he's Paranoid Schizophrenic."

Lewis said his release has to do with jail overcrowding particularly with limited beds in the midst of the pandemic.

"An assault (in the 4th degree) is a real crime and he will go to trial and be either innocent or guilty however due to the severity of the crime, you can't keep him till trial," he said. "At a certain point I can see where a victim would say well 'you know he's just going to be let right out of jail again' but that's the overcrowding issue that we have."

This comes on the tail of another Domestic Violence case in which the victim was ultimately killed on October 20 in the Applegate Valley.

Dean said she was working with a Domestic Violence Advocate that functions as a liaison between the Sheriff's Office and Community Works, a local nonprofit and the sole service provider for domestic violence victims in the valley. She said the advocate put her in touch with the nonprofit because she did not feel safe staying in the trailer they shared despite the no-contact order.

"They put me in a hotel for a week, well the hotel is just down from the FEMA park where we were staying and he ended up knowing where I was staying," she said noting that she believes he may have seen her car in the parking lot. "When I went to leave to go to the doctor he was outside in the parking lot videotaping my car as I drove away."

She said when she contacted Community works to ask for a relocation she was told the Domestic Violence Shelter was full and there were no other hotels available at the time. When contacted for comment, a Community Works administrator said the organization could not comment on specific cases.

Dean said she was finally able to get relocated thanks to a Social Services program available to fire survivors in the valley but the ordeal was still not over. When trying to file a restraining order against her Garibay she said she was told by the County's Civil Services Division that they could not locate him to serve the order.

"I'm like 'what do you mean you can't locate him he's in the trailer,'" she said noting that she had seen him at the location when she went to pick up food through a fire survivors meal service. "They were like 'oh okay well we are really short-staffed so you will have to call back on Tuesday to get it taken care of."

Lewis said he would look into the claim but said the department does get numerous requests for restraining orders and like many other offices has been periodically understaffed during the pandemic. He said Garibay was served on the 19th and the order went into place on the 20th and noted that while the order was being processed the no contact is still in place.

Dean said ultimately she was left feeling unsafe and overwhelmed with the amount of bureaucracy and hoops that she has had to jump through to get help.

"Every day you are talking to somebody new and trying to explain everything to everybody and it just was too overwhelming," she said in tears.

She said she understands that the pandemic has placed more burden on the system but feels the valley needs to provide more services to those in a situation like hers.

"I just feel like they were the ones that advised me to do all of these things and I did all of these things and then when I would call back it was like 'oh well you can call back,'" she said. "What happens in the meantime if he ends up hurting me again, he knows where I am staying. I have to look over my shoulder to make sure that he isn't there."

The District Attorney's Office confirmed that charges for Assault in the 4th Degree and Harassment were filed against Garibay on the 20th. He has previous charges pending for 4th Degree assault for an incident in August in which he is accused of bear spray against two individuals in Medford.

Dean said ultimately she would just like to see him get the mental help he needs and said she also does not believe the county's mental health resources a sufficient to help those in these types of situations.

If you or someone you know needs help you may contact the Domestic Violence hotline open 24/7 at 541-779-4357