Published: July 18, 2008 11:20 am         

Suspect arrested in attempted abduction

TERRE HAUTE — An Alabama man with Terre Haute ties was arrested Thursday night for his alleged involvement in an attempted abduction at the Garden Quarter Apartments earlier this month.

John P. Harpold, 28, of Phenix City, Ala. was arrested on allegations of kidnapping, a class-A felony, and criminal confinement, a class-C felony. He was extradited Friday back to Terre Haute from Alabama.

Harpold allegedly struck a 22-year-old female in the back with a stun gun in an attempt to get her out of her car around 5 p.m. July 6, according to the probable-cause affidavit.

When she couldn’t be pulled from the car, he allegedly began choking her as he pulled himself into the back passenger’s seat of her Mercury Sable. She did not know her attacker.

As he allegedly choked her, he told her to drive, the document stated. The female kept a knife between her door and seat of her car on the floor and was able to stab Harpold on the tops of his hands and somewhere in the abdomen or upper leg. At the same time, she drove off the side of Carlisle Road just south of Jessica Drive.

Harpold allegedly left her car and ran south toward the blue Mitsubishi Eclipse convertible he initially came from, according to the document. Police recovered a stun gun from the floorboard of the woman’s car and found blood on her shirt and the outside and inside of her rear passenger side door.

What appeared to be fingerprints also were found on the driver’s side of the car, the document stated. Marks matching the tip of the stun gun were found on the victim’s lower left back.

A witness told police she saw a white male in a red shirt and baseball cap limp toward the convertible and drive away. The victim told police her attacker was wearing a red, faded T-shirt, khaki shorts, sunglasses and tan flip-flops.

An anonymous tip was reported Tuesday to Vigo County Central Dispatch advising the person responsible for the assault lives in Alabama and was visiting family in Terre Haute, the document stated. The caller not only identified the vehicle and gave Harpold’s name, but also alleged that Harpold received treatment for his injuries in Illinois, near Vincennes.

The caller also told dispatch the stun gun was bought from a pawn shop in Georgia or Alabama, according to the affidavit.

From this tip, police learned Harpold has a Terre Haute driver’s license and a blue Mitsubishi Eclipse was registered to him and his wife in Alabama. Police verified Harpold was treated in Lawrence County (Ill.) Memorial Hospital for a laceration to the lower back July 6. Police also believe Harpold was visiting family in Terre Haute while on leave from the military.

In the statement Harpold allegedly gave Thursday to police in Alabama, he said he was involved in the incident in Terre Haute at an apartment complex near the State Police Post. He allegedly said he was “under a lot of stress in his marriage and that he was very angry that day,” according to the document.

He went on to explain the attack on an unknown woman with a stun gun and how she cut him with what he thought was a knife.

This was not Harpold’s first run-in with the law in Terre Haute. According to a 1996 Tribune-Star article, Harpold at age 15 was arrested and admitted to burglarizing and setting fire to a convenience store.

Police said the arrest would not have been possible without the anonymous tip.

“The anonymous tip received in this attack was instrumental in solving this case and should serve as an example to others of the positive effects when citizens and police work together,” said Indiana State Police Detective Hans Nowak in a news release.

Sgt. Joe Watts, ISU public information officer, echoed those sentiments.

“Anytime the public works with law enforcement cases usually go smoother and they usually go faster,” he said. “… We work for the public so when we can work with the public to solve a crime for the public, it works better.”

Watts said women should always be aware of their surroundings and pay attention to things when out alone.

“I think here in the Wabash Valley, it’s rare for young women to be attacked and that’s why we worked so hard on this case, because we don’t want this to become a habit here in the Wabash Valley,” Watts said. “So anytime someone’s personally attacked, you’re going to get all stops, if you will, pulled out by law enforcement.”

Harpold was expected to arrive at the Vigo County jail late Friday, where he will have a $100,000 bail without 10 percent.

A person convicted of a class-A felony can be imprisoned for 20 to 50 years and fined up to $10,000. A person convicted of a class-C felony can be imprisoned for two to eight years and fined up to $10,000.

Crystal Garcia can be reached at (812) 231-4271 or crystal.garcia@tribstar.com.