Modern Family star Sarah Hyland has taken out a temporary restraining order against her former boyfriend, according to court documents stating that he choked her.
The 23-year-old star, who was joined by her then-partner Matthew Prokop during a recent trip to Australia, claims she was terrorised physically and verbally during their four-year relationship.
The documents, obtained by TMZ, state that Prokop, 24, an actor who once starred on Modern Family, pinned Sarah against a car during an argument about her outfit and called her abusive names while choking her.
“His grip was so tight that I could not breathe or speak. I was scared and in fear for my life,” Sarah says in the documents.
She said she suffered injuries to her voice and had a very sore throat following the altercation, which happened in May.
Sarah reportedly called on her on screen mum Julie Bowen to help end the relationship “peacefully”, and bought Prokop a ticket back to his hometown of Texas, but when he saw Julie and others waiting to confront him at Sarah’s home, he ran into the backyard screaming.
Sarah with her onscreen mum Julie Bowen (left) and fellow cast members Sofia Vergara, Ariel Winter and Aubrey Anderson-Emmons.
Sarah claims he threw a lighter at her and that’s when Julie stepped in, and told Sarah to leave the house for her own safety.
Throughout their relationship Sarah says he threatened her, saying he would set one of their houses on fire and that she wouldn’t see her dog ever again.
Following their break-up, Sarah says Prokop “relentlessly bombarded me with vile, threatening and emotionally disturbing texts and voicemails, including his own suicide threats.”
The director of a rehab where Prokop once stayed was the one who advised Sarah to take out the restraining order.
