Posted on 04/05/2003 7:57:00 AM PST by Theodore R.
Man charged with aggravated assault after wife found chained
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A South Texas man is accused of keeping his wife on a 25-foot chain similar to those used for dogs.
Jerry Wayne Thomason, 41, was arrested after a witness contacted San Antonio police Thursday. The witness noticed the chain around the neck of Patricia Thomason, 45, as the couple dropped off their two sons, ages 11 and 14, at school. Police said the witness asked the husband about the chain.
Police said that the man told the witness, as he jerked the chain, that he used it so that his wife couldn't run off.
Thomason was arrested after police went to their home and found the couple in the driveway. He was charged with aggravated assault with serious bodily injury and unlawful restraint.
Officer Kenny Hagen said the woman was standing next to a vehicle with the chain still around her neck, while her husband slept in the driver's seat.
The chain was wrapped around her neck twice and held in place with a padlock, police said in Friday's editions of the San Antonio Express-News. The woman, who had bruises on her face, was holding the length of the chain in her arms.
"She had a really tough time talking," he said. "She was distraught, kind of like beat down, almost like you had accepted your fate in life."
When questioned by police, Thomason said he loved his wife.
Thomason was jailed Friday. Bond was set at $53,000.
Patricia Thomason was taken to Southeast Baptist Hospital, where she was treated and released.
Police said it's unclear how long the woman had been wearing the chain and whether she was kept tied up.
The couple's two children were with their maternal grandmother, police said.
Police are investigating the case.
San Antonio firefighters had to use bolt cutters to cut the chain.
The witness noticed the chain around the neck of Patricia Thomason, 45, as the couple dropped off their two sons
In most cases the wife puts the chain on the husband...
I prefer to see the abject falleness of mankind in these stories and think they help us realize his/her need for a new heart.
There are some women who will run right back to their abusers, I hope she never does.
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