An Iowa man is accused of holding a woman captive on two occasions late last month — at one point tying her to a cinder block and throwing her into a river in Arkansas.
Jerry Dean Clark, 45, of Glenwood, Iowa, faces charges of attempted murder, kidnapping, and interference with emergency communication in the case, according to an affidavit filed April 26 in Sharp County Circuit Court.
The woman, self-identified as Clark’s ex-girlfriend, told a detective with the Sharp County sheriff’s office that Clark arrived between 5:30 and 6 p.m. April 20 at the hotel where she was staying, Days Inn in Hardy. He then forced her to leave the property in the direction of a nearby McDonald’s, she said.
The two traveled in a truck from the McDonald’s to Griffin Park along the South Fork Spring River, nearly 2 miles southwest of the hotel, according to the affidavit.
After arriving at the park, the woman said, Clark took her cellphone, began hitting her and said, “I’m going to teach you a lesson.”
The woman said she attempted to exit the truck and run but was stopped when Clark pulled her hair and slammed her head into the truck’s bumper.
Later that night, the woman said, she was forced to set up a tent and blow up an air mattress by the South Fork Spring River.
The woman told the detective that Clark tied a rope around the outside of her clothing before tying that rope around cinder block and throwing her into the river. She was able to free herself to get out of the water, according to the affidavit.
“You have earned the right to stay alive, but not to be free yet,” Clark is accused of saying to the woman.
Clark, the woman said, then zip-tied her hands to a nearby tree and began hitting her with his hands and a drink bottle. She was able to chew through the zip tie and free herself from the tree, later fleeing the area by entering the river, according to the affidavit.
He was located and arrested about 2:19 a.m. April 21 in Violet Hill on DWI charges out of Izard County, the deputy said. The sheriff’s office said it observed stains on Clark’s blue jeans that were consistent with blood.
Clark, in an interview after his arrest, told the sheriff’s office that the woman had thrown items out of his truck.
Initially denying the accusations, he later admitted to the incidents, according to the affidavit.
Read Wednesday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.