Telemarketer's Phone Call Saves Oregon Woman Being Beaten; Ex-Boyfriend Arrested
LEBANON, Oregon (CBS SF) -- A telemarketer's timely phone call may have saved the life of an Oregon woman being beaten and choked by her ex-boyfriend in her home, according to police.
Meanwhile, the man arrested in the attack was given a conditional release a day after the alleged assault.
On Wednesday, a worker for Americare Health and Nutrition in Las Vegas placed a routine sales call Wednesday and heard the sounds of the woman getting beaten, KLAS-TV reported.
The telemarketer asked her manager Tina Garcia to come listen in. "She said, 'Tina, you need to hear this. I don't think this is a joke. Something's happening. I think this lady is getting hit,'" Garcia told KLAS. "The young lady on the other end of the phone never said hello. There was just a horrible whimper."
Workers at the call center heard the woman's screams as a man was heard yelling at her, "Get up!"
"You could actually hear the blows as if he was hitting a punching bag," Garcia told CBS News.
The call center alerted authorities in Linn County, Oregon. Mario Gonzalez, president and CEO of American Health told the Albany Democrat-Herald said the assault lasted for another 15-20 minutes until deputies arrived and said the woman was being beaten most of that time.
When deputies arrived at the home they found 33-year-old Walter Ruck holding the woman from behind, according to authorities.
The sheriff's office said the woman told deputies Ruck had assaulted her, held her down and smothered her head and face with pillows – and at one point got out a rifle and asked her to shoot him.
Ruck was charged with fourth degree assault, menacing and strangulation.
Linn County Sheriff Bruce Riley told the Democrat-Herald the woman didn't intentionally answer her phone. "At the very least it was lucky. At the most it might have been providence," he said.
Ruck, was charged with fourth-degree assault and strangulation on Thursday in Linn County Circuit Court. Both crimes are misdemeanors.
The judge gave Ruck a conditional release based on his lack of criminal history, the Democrat-Herald reported. Terms of the release include Ruck not being able to possess firearms.
In court Thursday, prosecutors said Ruck was "highly unstable," an assertion that Ruck – who said he was a military veteran – disputed, according to the Democrat-Herald.
Ruck next scheduled court appearance is February 17.