Man charged after allegedly holding woman against her will
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IDAHO FALLS — A 30-year-old Idaho Falls man has been charged for allegedly kidnapping a woman, threatening her, and breaking her tooth after throwing an object at her.
The incident happened in September but charges were filed against Jeffrey Scott Larue in November.
According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by the Idaho Falls Police Department, Larue and a woman were together at a hotel in Bonneville County on Sept. 4. The two began arguing and the victim called Larue “dangerous.” Documents say he responded by throwing a plastic deodorant container which hit the victim’s face.
The container broke the victim’s tooth off at the root and split her lip. Larue then held her down on the bed, documents say, as the victim fought free before leaving the hotel room.
Larue later confessed to police officers but claimed the deodorant container was not aimed at the victim’s face, documents said.
After getting out of the room, the victim went to her parked car behind the hotel. As she attempted to get into her vehicle, Larue allegedly grabbed her from behind, picked her up, and forced her into his own vehicle. He then drove the victim to River Walk Drive where the victim tried to escape his vehicle. Larue got out of his vehicle and ran after her but court documents say Larue grabbed her and forced the victim back into his vehicle.
She tried to leave the vehicle again, but Larue allegedly grabbed her and pulled her into the car before speeding away.
According to documents, this portion of the incident was caught on security cameras.
Larue then took the victim to Tautphaus Park. At the park, both of them got out of the vehicle. She was crying and Larue tried to console her. The victim tried escaping from him again by quickly walking away from him. Larue got into his vehicle and chased after the victim, court documents say.
He caught the victim and began dragging her back to his vehicle as she screamed and cried while dragging her heels in the dirt.
A witness saw what happened and intervened, causing Larue to stop his third “abduction” attempt, documents say.
Once the victim was safe inside the witness’s vehicle, Larue sent her 44 different texts.
Some of the texts read, “Get out of her car and start walking now do not let the cops get called on me please I’m begging you I’m so sorry let me fix this” and “Call me now dammit.”
One text read in part, “Well I guess I’ll see you in court if you press charges then I WILL press the charges back just know that THEY took photos of my injuries as well YOU GOT ME pretty good…YOU F***** ME UP. Let all this go in peace I don’t want to press charges against you too but I will if you try.”
The witness took the victim to the police station to file a police report.
Larue was charged with three felonies including second-degree kidnapping, aggravated battery and intimidating a witness. The second-degree kidnapping charge is punishable by up to 25 years in prison and/or a $50,000 fine including restitution.
His bond was set by a judge at $25,000. He was issued a no-contact order against the victim.
Larue is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 18 at 1 p.m. at the Bonneville County courthouse.