By JASON TIDD

Staff writer

A victim of domestic abuse escaped a Hillsboro home dressed only in a towel Friday afternoon.

“When you leave, you leave the way you were dressed,” said Hillsboro police chief Dan Kinning.

On dispatch, a woman was reported walking down the street in a towel and crying. Friday had a high temperature of 45 degrees.

A police officer put her in his patrol vehicle and radioed that she was intoxicated. Police were said to be looking for a shirtless man in a black Cadillac.

Kinning said a boyfriend fled the scene, but he was identified. The department is seeking a warrant for domestic battery.

“At that time, we couldn’t really identify any marks because it was fresh and she was crying and everything else,” Kinning said. “She was telling us that it was not physical. That later changed when marks became visible.”

She provided statements after visiting Newton Medical Center emergency room.

“From what we can tell it looks like he was probably punching her in the face,” Kinning said.

He said police wrapped her in a blanket. The woman was headed for a friend’s house.

The 32-year-old female was visiting Hillsboro with her 34-year-old boyfriend for a few days, staying in a house in the 200 block of N. Lincoln St. Both the man and woman are from Newton.

Their names and their relation to the homeowner were withheld to protect the identity of the woman, which is typical for domestic violence cases.

Kinning said the couple got into an argument, and there was some damage to the house when a bedroom door was kicked in.