POTTSVILLE, Penn. -- A Pennsylvania woman faces multiple charges after allegedly kidnapping a woman and assaulting her for three days.
The arrest comes after a naked, badly-beaten woman ran into a Pottsville business Tuesday, saying that she had been beaten with everything from baseball bats to fire extinguishers, according to WNEP.
Police in Pottsville are just releasing the details of what happened Tuesday morning and confirm one person has been charged. Holly Ann Rhode, 47, of Pottsville is behind bars after being charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, unlawful restraining, possessing instruments of crime and recklessly endangering another person.
"That's amazing," said resident Jerry Vrabel. "I've lived here for 15 years. I never heard of anything like that ever happening."
Police say Rhode beat her with chairs, a fire extinguisher, and a bat inside an apartment on South Centre Street until, witnesses say, the victim made a run for it Tuesday morning and escaped. The battered woman ran across the street completely naked, screaming, "Help me" to people inside the Atlantic Bingo Supply store.
Employee Diane Hess had just started her morning when the woman came running in begging for help.
"Thank God our big garage door was open, because that's the way she came in, because what if it wasn't? Maybe she wouldn't have gotten away. You know, it is scary," Hess said.
She told WNEP she can't get the image out of her head, remembering there wasn't an inch of the battered and naked woman's body that wasn't bruised.
"Oh, my gosh, my heart just broke," said Hess. "She was totally bruised, she had a big gash on her head. She had a little blanket she was holding over her. It was absolutely horrible."
As awful as the woman's story sounds, some said they have doubts she was telling the whole truth.
"I was here Saturday, Sunday, Monday. I walked into the house and there was nothing going on," said Harry Haughney.
Police are still investigating this case and have not released a motive for why Rhode held the other woman captive. But, police add, they found enough evidence to substantiate the victim's account of what happened -- enough to charge Holly Ann Rhode with aggravated assault and unlawful restraint.
