Ex-Girlfriend: Tsarnaev a ‘Tough Guy’

[DonViejo]

By Ted Mann and Pervaiz Shallwani

Tamerlan Tsarnaev could be a bully, a high-school tough guy intent on proving his mettle as a boxer, and an adolescent sometimes eager to put a scare into his peers, his former girlfriend said on Monday. But she never anticipated his involvement in something like the attacks on the Boston Marathon last week.

“When I was in high school he wasn’t like that at all,” said Nadine Ascencao, 25 years old, of Brookline, Mass., who said she dated Mr. Tsarnaev, 26, and who court records say was the woman who accused Mr. Tsarnaev of slapping her in 2009. “I was shocked like everybody else. He was a little tough guy, but I thought that was it. In high school, everybody acts like that. Like a bully guy, you know? Now it’s just shocking for me.”

Ms. Ascencao, who records show also lived for a time at an apartment at the same address as Mr. Tsarnaev on Norfolk Street, avoided questions about a 2009 domestic complaint against Mr. Tsarnaev. According to the complaint, Ms. Ascencao told police that Mr. Tsarnaev had slapped her face in an argument over another woman. According to the complaint, Mr. Tsarnaev admitted slapping Ms. Ascencao and was arrested on charges of assault and battery. The charges were dismissed before trial.

Ms. Ascencao said she had been deluged by phone calls since Mr. Tsarnaev and his brother, Dzhokhar, were identified as suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings. The inquiry is the first her family has heard of her dating Mr. Tsarnaev, she said, adding that the two attended high school together.

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