Angela Sanchez said she and ISU defensive lineman David Irving had been arguing for several weeks leading up to Wednesday’s incident, which ended with Irving being arrested and charged with domestic assault.

Ames Police were called to an apartment on 1415 S. Grand Ave., on a welfare check Wednesday night regarding an incident that occurred earlier in the day between 2 and 4 p.m.

In an interview Friday evening with the Iowa State Daily, Sanchez discussed the events leading to Irving’s arrest. Irving did not answer repeated attempts by the Daily requesting comment.

Sanchez said she and Irving argued about her moving back to California after she responded to messages he received from a woman on his phone. Throughout the day Wednesday, Sanchez said, the two had multiple arguments. During a span of several hours, she said she took Irving’s phone, threw his PlayStation out the window and ripped up some of his new clothes during the incident. Sanchez said Irving cut her hair and hit her in the leg multiple times.

The incident ended Wednesday night when police were called to their apartment around 7:45 p.m. on a welfare call made by Sanchez’s mother, who lives in California. Sanchez said she had thought about calling police, but chose not to.

“I never did because he’s the father of my child. I loved him; I didn’t really want all this to happen,” Sanchez said. “I didn’t want him to go to jail. I know what would happen if this got out. He’s going to lose his football career and be in prison. I don’t want that.”

Sanchez and Irving, who have an 11-month-old daughter together, had argued Tuesday night, and it carried into Wednesday, she said.

“We were just talking about, if he wanted me to come home back to California, then I would come home,” Sanchez said. “But if he wanted me to stay then I would stay, and he just needed to act like a boyfriend. He wants to be doing things a single guy would be doing, and I told him I’m not going to stay in Iowa if that’s how he’s going to be.”

Sanchez and Irving had been dating since Irving’s senior year of high school at San Jacinto High School in California, she said. Sanchez was a sophomore at the time, she said. The two had a daughter, Zoe, on Dec. 5, 2012, and Sanchez said she moved to Ames with Zoe to live with Irving in early June 2013.

Since then, Sanchez said the two had argued on and off. The argument that sparked Wednesday’s incident stemmed from Sanchez replying to a female who had sent Irving messages on his phone, Sanchez said. She said women would often message Irving on his phone, and while he wouldn’t respond, she would eventually tell them he had a girlfriend and daughter if they persisted.

When Sanchez replied to one recently, she said Irving became upset.

“He got mad at me because I messaged some girl back and then he started telling me that he wanted to be how he was his freshman year, talking to all kinds of girls,” Sanchez said. “And if I don’t want to deal with it, come home [to California]. I told him, if that’s how you’re going to be then I’m going to come home, because I’m not going to be there while you’re messing around with other girls.”

Sanchez said Irving’s phone had been constantly ringing Tuesday night. She asked who he was talking to, and when he showed her the messages it was his father. On Wednesday, as Irving was leaving the apartment for medical treatment around 12:30 p.m., Sanchez said she took his phone and kept it.

Sanchez said she took Irving’s phone because he had been on it a lot since they started arguing. She said Irving had made an account on a dating app and she took it to look into that. Irving’s phone was locked, she said, and she kept it because she said he had broken hers previously.

When Irving returned from medical treatment, Sanchez said she refused to give his phone back and that Irving got upset. Sanchez said Irving told her if she didn’t give it back within five minutes he would start cutting her hair. She refused and said that at that point Irving cut her hair.

Sanchez said Irving sat with the scissors on the floor by the door and wouldn’t let her out. She said she asked Irving to put the scissors down so the two could talk and he refused. Sanchez said she grabbed the scissors and Irving told her if she didn’t let go he would cut her hand. Sanchez said she again refused and her hand was cut.

When Irving left again, this time for a checkup, Sanchez said, she threw his PlayStation out the window and broke it.

“He tried to come back into the room, but I locked the door,” Sanchez said. “He said, ‘Just watch when I get home.’ And I just stood quiet.”

Sanchez said she also ripped up some of the new clothes Irving had recently purchased. When Irving returned, Sanchez and Zoe were at the neighbor’s apartment, she said. The two argued back and forth with Irving asking for his phone back, Sanchez said. She said she refused, but agreed to go to the doctor with him so they could talk.

Before the two left, Sanchez said, Irving became upset that Sanchez was getting dressed too slowly and cut more of her hair. The neighbor brought Zoe over because she was crying, Sanchez said, and Irving eventually left, without his phone, for the doctor while Sanchez stayed behind with Zoe.

When he returned again, Sanchez said she was sleeping at the neighbor’s apartment. She said Irving came over after realizing his clothes had been ripped up. Sanchez said Irving told her not to come back over to the apartment because she had crossed the line by ripping his clothes.

Later, Sanchez returned to the apartment.

“He socked me a couple of times in both of my legs and my arm and that was it,” Sanchez said. “I went back over to the neighbor’s apartment.”

Throughout the incident, Sanchez said, she and Irving had both been messaging Sanchez’s mother.

“I was talking to my mom about getting me a ticket back home and David was messaging her as well saying that if she didn’t talk some sense into me that things were going to get really bad and that things were going to get out of control,” Sanchez said.

After Sanchez didn’t respond to messages for a “few minutes,” her mother called police, she said.

According to police records, officers spoke with the victim who “stated her boyfriend and the father of her child held her down earlier in the afternoon and cut a large portion of hair off.” Police reports say the victim told police that the defendant punched her in the leg several times with a closed fist and officers noticed several bruises on the victim’s leg and a large scratched area on the back side of her leg. The victim also had a small cut on her hand, police said, which she said was caused by the scissors.

While Irving didn’t respond to a request by the Daily for comment, according to police reports while he admitted to getting into an argument, he denies cutting the victim’s hair.

Sanchez said similar arguments between her and Irving have occurred before.

Sanchez chose to talk with the Daily about the incident after comments were made online on various news websites about her and her family. Sanchez said comments, which talked about drug history in her family, are irrelevant. She said some of the comments have come from Irving’s cousin.

“Yeah, my dad was arrested — he was imprisoned for drugs — but that has nothing to do with me,” Sanchez said. “I’m a different person, I didn’t even grow up around my dad. My dad being in prison has nothing to do with mine and David’s relationship.”

Sanchez said she and Irving chose to have a child and that Zoe was not an accident. She made the decision to move from California to Iowa last summer, she said, so the three could be together.

Sanchez said that’s what she told Irving when the two argued about her going home.

“We had a life back in California, I could have been in college somewhere playing softball, but I chose to be here with you,” Sanchez said she told Irving. “I chose to have a baby with you, because you wanted to have a baby with me. Zoe wasn’t an accident, you chose to have a baby with me and you chose for me to come to Iowa. If this is how you want to treat me then I’m going to go home.”

Sanchez said Irving told her Tuesday night, “Fine, go home.” Before police arrived Wednesday night following the arguments throughout the day, with Sanchez preparing to leave, she said she tried to allow Irving to say goodbye.

“I told him before I was leaving (Wednesday) night, I told him, ‘David, open your room door. I’m going to leave. Zoe is calling your name. You don’t want to say goodbye to Zoe?’ She’s calling you,’” Sanchez said while beginning to cry.

Sanchez said Irving eventually allowed Zoe in, but refused to let her in unless she “cut 6 inches,” off her hair. Sanchez said she questioned why Irving was being the way he was when police arrived.

Irving’s preliminary hearing has been set for Nov. 25. The ISU athletic department said it is still gathering facts and information on the investigation.

Irving started in eight games for Iowa State this season, missing a game against TCU on Nov. 9 for a nonfootball health issue, said ISU coach Paul Rhoads at last week’s news conference.

Sanchez said she and Zoe left Ames for California on a bus following the incident. The two arrived on Friday evening.

“I’m not going to let it stop me from doing what I need to do to take care of Zoe and myself. I don’t know. I really don’t know,” Sanchez said. “I’m going to get a job and stuff; I’m going to go to school. I’ll be doing that as soon as possible.”