The fugitive man accused of kidnapping, assaulting and raping a local woman has been captured.
Early Sunday morning, Jason Guy Bender, 40, of Marysville, was arrested in Putnam County.
Union County Sheriff Jamie Patton said reports of the arrest are still unavailable, but explained deputies from the Van Wert County Sheriff’s Office attempted to stop Bender as part of a traffic stop. He said Bender allegedly did not stop and the officers pursued him into Putnam County.
“They finally ended up stopping the vehicle,” Patton said.
He added, “I do not have information on what happened in Putnam and what started out in Van Wert.”
Patton did say his office was told Bender was “uncooperative and combative” when deputies were able to stop him.
Bender was taken to the Putnam County Jail.
“He refused a lot of the directions the jail staff was giving him,” Patton said.
Local deputies went to Putnam County Sunday evening and brought Bender to the Tri-County Regional Jail in Mechanicsburg.
The sheriff said Bender was, “being difficult in the processing.”
Bender was indicted last week on charges of felonious assault, kidnapping, rape and having weapons under a disability. Several of the charges carry additional specifications, including Bender having a gun, sexual motivation and being a sexually violent predator.
If convicted, Bender could spend more than 36 years in prison.
The charges stem from an alleged incident June 28 and 29. At about 2:26 p.m., June 29, the Union County Sheriff’s Office received a report from a family member about a 31-year-old woman who was allegedly restrained against her will for 12 to 14 hours at a home in the 13,000 block of Watkins Road.
The sheriff said Bender and the victim “were in a relationship.”
Because of Bender’s violent past, Marysville’s tactical team was used to get into the home, but Bender was gone by that time.
In a release, Patton confirmed the woman’s story, writing, “during this time, the female was physically and sexually assaulted which resulted in injuries requiring emergency medical care.”
The sheriff said Bender “has had encounters with law enforcement in the past.”
Bender has multiple assault, disorderly conduct and criminal damaging convictions, as well as a felony aggravated assault conviction. Because of the felony offense of violence, Bender is not allowed to have or be in the same home with guns.
He has at least twice been ordered by the court to go through domestic violence or anger management counseling.
Bender is currently at Tri-County Regional Jail awaiting arraignment, scheduled for Aug. 23.