The fourth suspect accused in the kidnapping and beating of a 19-year-old victim June 2 in a barn in eastern Bartholomew County turned himself in at the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department Friday morning.
Zablin “Jai” Woodruff, 19, of 238 N. Hughes St., Columbus, surrendered to authorities at 9:45 a.m. and was booked into the Bartholomew County Jail, said sheriff’s department spokesman Sgt. Dane Duke.
His surrender followed a lengthy SWAT operation Thursday night at the Hughes Street address in which Columbus police and sheriff deputies served a search warrant on the home seeking to locate him, but were unsuccessful. After renewing their request for the public to notify police of Woodruff’s whereabouts, Woodruff turned himself in without incident.
Woodruff is one of four suspects charged in Bartholomew Superior Court 1 with kidnapping and assaulting a 19-year-old acquaintance on June 2 in an attack that continued into the early morning hours of June 3, according to investigators.
Bartholomew County Prosecutor Lindsey Holden-Kay on Thursday formally charged Woodruff, Charles Abram Breedlove, Ashton Fields and Emily Franklin with robbery resulting in serious bodily injury as a Level 2 felony, kidnapping as a Level 3 felony, criminal confinement as a Level 3 felony, and aggravated battery as a Level 3 felony.
A Level 2 felony is punishable by 10-30 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000; and a Level 3 felony is punishable by three to 16 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
Breedlove, 18, of 2017 14th St., Columbus, Fields, 18, of 762 Clifty Drive-C, Columbus, and Franklin, 18, of 8585 S. State Highway 3, Commiskey, are in custody at the Bartholomew County Jail, being held without bond, according to investigators.
Probable cause affidavits filed in the case state the victim reported the assault on June 3 and was interviewed by sheriff deputies on that day. The victim, a 19-year-old male, had a significant amount of dried blood covering the right side of his face, a swollen and bleeding lip, a large laceration on the right side of his face, a long thin laceration across his right cheek, a neck contusion and additional cuts and scrapes on his neck and face.
The victim told deputies that Franklin had picked him up at 11:10 p.m. June 2 to get some food. The affidavit states Franklin told the victim she had to meet her sister at Skateland to give her money, but that Franklin drove past the facility and continued east on 25th Street in Columbus.
Franklin turned north on to Bonnell Road and parked in the parking lot of The Ridge Church, but then continued north on Bonnell Road, parking in front of a barn on the west side at 3460 Bonnell Road, the affidavit states.
When they arrived at the barn, the victim said Woodruff opened the passenger door, grabbed him by the neck, and dragged him out of the vehicle, according to the affidavit. The victim said Breedlove then punched him in the face, and the two dragged the victim into the barn, where three additional masked individuals were inside, according to the affidavit.
Woodruff had a knife in his hand cut the right side of the victim’s face, the affidavit states. Woodruff and Breedlove took turns with the knife attempting to cut him. Breedlove brandished a pistol from his waistband and pistol-whipped him, the victim told deputies. Breedlove pointed a pistol at the victim’s head multiple times and said, “I’m going to blow your head off” and “these are your last minutes on earth” and “this is it,” the affidavit states.
The victim said a stick was used to beat him, but he did not remember who had the weapon. Woodruff held the victim down while Breedlove cut off his hair with a pair of scissors and cut his throat with the scissors, the affidavit states. Woodruff then asked the victim, “Are you thirsty,” and then began to throw liquid on his face that burned his eyes and the lacerations on his face, according to the affidavit.
Woodruff and Breedlove then grabbed the victim’s index fingers and pinky fingers and attempted to break them, the affidavit states.
Woodruff then told the victim to wait in the barn for 30 minutes, and if he left before that, the beating would continue, the affidavit states. Woodruff and Breedlove then took his sweatshirt, shoes and phone, investigators said.
The victim waited in the barn for more than an hour, and then ran to a nearby neighborhood and knocked at three houses where no one answered. On the fourth try, he knocked on the door of homeowner Indiana State Trooper Rick Roseberry, who called for emergency medical assistance and the victim was transported to Columbus Regional Hospital.
On June 10, detectives were in surveillance of an apartment on Clifty Lane where Franklin and Fields lived, and observed Fields and Breedlove leaving in Franklin’s vehicle, where a traffic stop was conducted.
They were taken to the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department and deputies returned to the apartment to arrest Franklin.
