A Pittsburgh man is in custody after police said he beat his ex-girlfriend, kidnapped her, and held a pair of scissors up to her before her escape was captured on security cameras.
Kenneth Clarke, 53, then led police on a brief chase in a U-Haul truck, the same one he allegedly pulled his ex-girlfriend by her hair into before driving away.
“The woman ran into Butler Tobacco and Grocery.” Tori Adams, the store’s clerk at the time, said the girl walked in shivering, shoeless, bleeding, and screaming because she had been kidnapped. “So, I told her to hide in the back room.”
Security cameras caught Clarke parking near the store and entering. “He came in yelling that she had supposedly stolen things from him,” Adams recalled, adding how she put herself between the guy and the woman in the back of the store. “I told him he needed to leave; I was already on the phone with the cops,” Adams explained.
It prompted Clarke to get back inside the U-Haul and drive away.
Butler City officers were called to the 100 block of Pillow Street about 2 p.m. on Saturday to investigate a potential kidnapping and domestic violence. An officer spoke with the victim, who stated that she had been in a physical argument with her ex-boyfriend that began on McGeary Street.
The girl claimed police officer Clarke repeatedly punched her in the face, causing abrasions on her lips and mouth and taking off her lip ring. She claimed Clarke then wrapped both hands around her neck and began strangling her, forcing her to lose consciousness.
According to the woman, Clarke grabbed her by the hair and pushed her into a wall, slashing her left ear. Police reported that her clothes were also torn during the assault.
The victim claimed Clarke dragged her out of a home by her hair, flung her over the driver’s seat of a U-Haul vehicle, and drove away while holding a pair of scissors to her.
At the junction of West Cunningham and Pillow streets, the victim informed police that Clarke nearly ran a red light before backing up. She claimed Clarke told her he was going to kill her as she was holding the scissors.
The victim told authorities she tried to flee by opening the passenger-side door. As she fled, she said Clarke attempted to stab her with the scissors, injuring her in the back and slashing her jeans. “She ran inside the tobacco shop.” “I was like, ‘What the hell is going on?'” said shop manager Lisa Albert, who was not present at the moment but witnessed the aftermath on her security cameras.
Police issued a be-on-the-lookout alert for Clarke and the vehicle, which was eventually found on Route 68. Evans City and Jackson Township police officers stopped the vehicle following a brief chase, according to authorities. “Everyone is concerned about her today,” Albert said of the victim.
Adams explained how she felt as the man entered the store. I’m terrified, for her and for myself. “My 13-year-old son was behind the counter, and I was like, ‘Not today, my kid’s here,’ because I don’t know what [Clarke] is capable of,” Adams explained.
Albert commended Adams’ actions. I’d like to believe that this is something that anyone would do in a situation. “I’m not sure if there is still enough good in the world to be the truth, but I hope so,” Adams added.
Clarke was booked into the Butler County Jail on various offenses, including kidnapping, aggravated assault, strangulation, terroristic threats, and simple assault.
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