Lovejoy police tell Channel 2 Action News they have arrested the man they say attacked and then tortured a Clayton County woman for hours before leaving her for dead.

Police arrested Rakheem Jerome Byrd in Spalding County during a traffic stop. Investigators said Byrd was driving the victim's car at the time of the arrest.

Investigators have been looking for Byrd since the weekend after a woman reported he had severely beaten her.
"He tortured me for hour, for hours. It's like he enjoyed just torturing me," the woman said.

The victim said she first met the man who called himself Raheem at a Tara Boulevard Citgo gas station last Thursday.

The two talked and she gave him her phone number.

Saturday morning she said he showed up unannounced at her home and wanted to take her out. She refused but allowed him to come in and used the restroom.

The victim said that's when he began attacking her and didn't stop until sometime Saturday evening.

"He squeezed me until I blacked out. Then he'd throw me, like body-slammed me on the floor, like his preference was my head hitting the floor. Then once I came back to, he'd do it again," she said. "He tried to tie me up, punching me, kicking me."

Byrd is being charged with aggravated assault, theft by taking and false imprisonment.

According to records on the Department of Corrections website, Byrd had just gotten out of prison on aggravated assault charges. He told his last victim that he did the same thing to his girlfriend.