An Eads man’s attack on a woman in Bartlett late Saturday night ended with him on the run with her car and the woman in the intensive care unit (ICU) at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis, according to Bartlett police.
The victim, 52, told police she was previously in a relationship with her attacker, who is 54. They were at Bubba’s Ale House & Grille (7041 Stage Road, Memphis) when an argument turned physical.
During the drive to a home on Gailyn Drive in Bartlett, she said he kicked her and repeatedly punched her in the head. She ran to a neighbor’s house when he parked, but he grabbed her and dragged her by the hair, she said.
A witness saw the assault and called the police. The suspect then fled in the victim’s 2005 Red Saturn Ion. Police located the car later that night and had it towed by a wrecker service.
Responding officers found the woman had severe swelling on the left side of her jaw and her upper face. Bartlett Fire Department Unit 1 took her to the hospital.
Medical staff confirmed she had internal bleeding in her head. She was in ICU until Monday and then moved to a regular room in stable condition.
The victim told police he threatened to kill her father if she called police, so officers asked the Memphis Police Department to check on him.
A warrant is currently out for the suspect’s arrest on aggravated assault. He was not yet in custody as of midday Tuesday.
A BPD spokesman said, despite rumors to the contrary, only patrol officers responded to the incident. SWAT teams were not called to the scene. There also was no intervention by a federal official related to the suspect, ordering his release, as some people have speculated.
The victim lives on the 3100 block of Wade Street. The suspect resides on the 700 block of Estate Drive in Eads.
The home where the incident happened belongs to William R. Ingram of Memphis (not the suspect in this case). He is an administrative law judge with the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review, or ODAR, in Memphis.
