Cobb County

Man accused of kidnapping, assaulting wife arrested after high-speed chase in TN

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A man accused of kidnapping and stabbing his estranged wife was arrested after a high-speed chase in Tennessee on Friday.

The Connecticut man attacked and abducted the woman in Sandy Springs on Thursday night, months after the woman tried to escape her abusive husband, Marietta police spokesman Officer Chuck McPhilamy said Friday.

Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Chris Jose was in Marietta, where police said 53-year-old Kenneth Terry found his estranged wife and forced her into a car before driving to the parking lot of a Marietta hotel, police said.

We are not identifying the woman because investigators say she is a rape victim.

Though severely injured, the woman managed to escape in the car when Terry got out for a few minutes at the motel.

“The victim had been severely beaten and stabbed before Terry pulled into a Marietta hotel parking lot,” McPhilamy said. “Terry had been driving the victim’s vehicle and briefly stepped out of it while stopped in the parking lot. The victim seized the opportunity to lock her car doors, get into her driver’s seat and navigate her vehicle to the front of the hotel.”

The woman got out and screamed for help as Terry tried to force her back inside, police said.

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A security guard at the hotel noticed the struggle and confronted Terry, who jumped into the car and drove off, authorities said.

It's unclear what the victim's condition is.

The woman first contacted Marietta police in late September and told them her husband had raped her, authorities said. Since then, Terry allegedly contacted her several more times, forcing his wife to relocate to another city. The couple is separated, police said.

Jose showed motel guests Terry's mug shot. They didn't recognize him, but DaLawrence Stephens did see the swarm of cops early Friday morning.

"They were loaded down out here. Blue lights. All of that going down," Stephens said.

Tennessee State Troopers captured Terry in Athens City after a chase that topped speeds of 100 mph Friday afternoon.

Police said they urgently wanted to find Terry before he contacted the victim again.

"He is stalking her. He is following her. He is doing everything he can to get ahold of the victim again," police told Jose.