Jacob Lynn Rutherford
Note: This story was updated at 8:15 a.m. April 30.
An Oak Ridge man is accused of assaulting two women in two separate incidents, and he allegedly used a metal rod in one of the beatings, authorities said. Jacob Lynn Rutherford, 21, is also accused of hitting one of the women in the head with a gun and forcing her into his vehicle at gunpoint, according to arrest warrants.
Rutherford has been charged with attempted second-degree murder, especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, and assault, according to the warrants, which were filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.
The first alleged assault occurred on February 25 and the second on April 28, the warrants said. Police responded to both alleged assaults at 101 Locust Lane, where Rutherford lives.
In the first case, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Kenneth Prickett said the victim, a Powell woman, showed signs of bruising around her right eye and blood around her nose.
“(She) also showed bruising around her right wrist and swelling in her right hand,” Prickett said in an arrest warrant.
The victim said Rutherford began fighting her and punching her the night before (February 24) because she woke him up, Prickett said. Rutherford assaulted her in a similar manner early the morning of February 25, the victim told Prickett.
In the second case, which was Thursday, April 28, ORPD Officer Sherrill Selby responded to the Locust Lane home on a report of a male beating a female.
In warrants, Selby said she found Rutherford at the side door with blood on his right hand.
She found the victim, a Knox County woman, inside the home.
“The victim was covered in blood on her face, neck, stomach, and arms,” Selby said. “Affiant (Selby) also observed large blue knots on the victim’s left eye and side of the face and several large blue knots on the left side of her face, along with scratches and bruising on her throat consistent with her statement of being strangled by the defendant.”
The victim had feared for her life and tried to leave the home, but she was allegedly chased down by Rutherford and dragged back into the home, where she was held against her will, the warrants said.
Rutherford allegedly hit her several times in the head with a metal rod, punched her all over her body, head, and face, and strangled and kicked her repeatedly in the face and head, according to the warrants.
“The defendant then told the victim he was going to get his gun and kill her just before (Selby) arrived,” the warrants said.
The victim said the assault began earlier Thursday in Rocky Top at the home of Rutherford’s mother. The victim asked the mother for a ride to get away from Rutherford, but he allegedly pulled out a gun and hit the victim in the head several times before forcing her into his vehicle at gunpoint and driving her to his home at 101 Locust Lane, the warrants said.
The assault charge was filed in the first incident, and the attempted second-degree murder, especially aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated assault charges were filed in the second.
Rutherford remained jailed in the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on Friday evening. His bond amounts are not listed on the warrants.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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