Man accused of beating girlfriend during argument about cigarettes

A Cape Girardeau man beat his girlfriend over an argument about cigarettes, police said.

The Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney's Office on Monday charged Daniel P. Gause, 30, with felony third-degree domestic assault.

Police went an apartment in the block of South West End Boulevard after a caller told emergency dispatchers he or she heard a woman screaming, "Get off of me. ... He's going to kill me," according to a probable-cause statement filed in the case by police officer Amanda Rhodes.

Police gained entry to the apartment after the subjects refused to open the door, Rhodes wrote.

Police arrested Gause. The victim, whose face was bruised and bloodied, told officers Gause hit her in the mouth with an open hand and punched her in the eye, Rhodes wrote.

Gause's bond was set at $7,500 cash with the condition he have no contact with the victim and stay at least 500 feet from her residence.