Man arrested for severely injuring woman, tying up another in Clark County

Charles E. Womack, 49, of Zanesfield, was arrested by the Allen County Sheriff’s Office near Fort Wayne, Indiana, according to a release from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.

Clark County Sheriff’s deputies and a medical helicopter responded to a report of a women tied up and another severely injured locked in a basement Tuesday afternoon in Moorefield Twp. in Clark County.

Emergency crews responded to the 600 block of Hiser Avenue off Derr Road and found two women in the basement, said Maj. Christopher Clark of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.

One of the women was restrained, but the other was severely injured, Clark said, after the second woman apparently had been assaulted and thrown down the stairs.

The restrained woman had been the one to call 911, the sheriff’s office said.

CareFlight landed in the area about 5:20 p.m. and took the injured woman to Miami Valley Hospital, the sheriff’s office said.

On investigation, the sheriff’s office said that Womack was a casual dating partner of the homeowner and came to visit earlier in the day.

During the visit, the tenant who lives in the basement of the home got into an argument initiated by Womack, the release said.

The sheriff’s office said that the homeowner also became involved, and finally Womack shoved the tenant down the basement stairs, dealing life-threatening injuries.

Womack then bound the homeowner with electrical cords and took her out of her home, making several trips to and from the house over the course of five hours, according to the release, before finally abandoning the homeowner in the basement, barricading the basement entrance and fleeing in his vehicle.

According to the release, the homeowner escaped the cords, aided the injured woman and got a phone to dial 911.

Womack was arrested at gunpoint in Indiana. He is currently in the Clark County Jail on two counts of abduction, two counts of kidnapping and one count of felonious assault.

Further charges may be approved as deputies learn more about the incident, according to the sheriff’s office.