Man sentenced to three years in prison for assault on wife

A Prundale man has been sentenced to three years in state prison for inflicting corporal injury on his wife, Monterey County District Attorney Dean Flippo announced Thursday.

A jury convicted Robert Ruch, 50, on April 24.

On Jan. 28, Ruch and his wife got into an argument inside their vehicle when Ruch grabbed her by the back of the hair and slammed her head into the car door, prosecutors said. The victim suffered a large swollen knot to her forehead.

At the time of the assault, Ruch was on probation for a previous domestic violence incident against the same woman, prosecutors said.

The judge in Ruch's case cited an extensive criminal record and poor performance on previous grants of probation in his decision to impose a prison sentence for Ruch, prosecutors said. Ruch had been placed on probation a total of 17 times as an adult, most recently for the domestic violence offense against the same woman.