Alireza Al Sazegari is Back in OC to Face the Alleged-Wife-Beating-and-Duct-Taping Music

Out of custody on $150,000 bail, Alireza Al Sazegari fled the country in 2010 rather than face multiple felony charges alleging he repeatedly beat his wife, who was found bruised and bound in duct tape in a bathroom of their Lake Forest home that was outfitted with surveillance cameras so he could watch her every move via his cell phone while away. In January, Interpol nabbed the 36-year-old in the Republic of Georgia, and his arraignment in Santa Ana Monday was continued to next month.

This one's wild, folks …

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Alireza Sazegari Accused of Beating and Duct Taping His Wife

In July of 2010, Sazegari's then-30-year-old wife had the audacity to talk to another man. This is what is alleged to have set her husband into a furious rage, according to the accounts of Orange County's sheriff's department and district attorney's office.

On July 6, 2010, the couple argued at their home. Sazegari allegedly slapped his wife in the face, grabbed her by the hair and dragged her into the bathroom. He is accused of binding her wrists behind her back and ankles together with duct tape and placing a piece of duct tape over her mouth before locking the bathroom door and removing the door knob to prevent her from escaping.

He is alleged to have returned to the bathroom later in the day with a large knife and threatening her with more violence if she tried to leave or call police. Sazegari is accused of forcing her to stay in a bedroom in the home while he was there.

On July 7, 2010, Sazegari allegedly forced his bride to call in sick to work and took away her cell phone, credit cards, wallet and car keys to prevent her from leaving the home, which he locked before leaving for work himself.

According to prosecutors, a co-worker of the victim came to the Sazegari home, found her friend duct taped in the bathroom and called the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Deputies say the wife told them her husband often beat her, forbid her from leaving the home and only allowed her to go into certain rooms. She added that her punishment this time was for having talked with a man.

Investigators said that besides having 20 strategically placed surveillance cameras, the home was outfitted with fingerprint activated door locks. They valued the equipment at $10,000.

Sazegari made his $150,000 bail but he did not show up for his scheduled Nov. 15, 2010, arraignment. Authorities at the time announced he'd apparently fled the country. This past January, Interpol figured out where Sazegari was staying in the Republic of Georgia and arrested him there based on his outstanding warrant from Orange County. The Orange County District Attorney's office (OCDA), U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of State collaborated with law enforcement in Georgia to extradite Sazegari, who the U.S. Marshals Service brought back to Orange County sheriff's jailers.

He is now charged with one felony count each of domestic battery with corporal injury, kidnapping, criminal threats, aggravated assault, false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud, or deceit, and dissuading a witness from reporting a crime with a sentencing enhancement allegation for the personal use of a deadly weapon. A conviction could send Sazegari to state prison for 12 years and three months, according to the OCDA, which reports arraignment has been continued to July 6.

Email: mc****@oc******.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!

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