A Fayetteville man has been arrested on suspicion of domestic battery, aggravated assault and terrorist threatening.
The man, identified as John Shackelford, 27, was the subject of numerous responses and investigations over the last several months all relating to the suspect’s former live-in girlfriend that tried to end the relationship four months ago, according to a probable cause report from the Washington County Prosecutor’s Office.
The Fayetteville Police Department has been called to her house multiple times since the start of 2014, often on complaints of trespassing, burglary and battery on the woman (who is now several months pregnant), according to the report.
Shackelford has been arrested this year alone for those same offenses, according to the report. Officers were summoned again on a report that Shackelford had broken into the woman’s apartment and assaulted her on Tuesday (April 22), according to the report.
The woman had a friend with her when Shackelford reportedly forced his way into the apartment in the morning. Both women gave statements, saying, that Shackelford shoved knives into the door frame to make it difficult for police to enter, according to the report.
He then held another knife and turned to the two women in a “menacing fashion,” according to the report. He also threatened to assault the officers if they entered the apartment.
Then, he reportedly said he would hold a knife to the throat of his ex-girlfriend. He also threatened to “knock the (expletive) teeth out” of the ex-girlfriend’s friend, according to the report.
When he was told to leave, he refused. The ex-girlfriend stated that he stomped on her foot at one point, causing her pain and bruising. The stomping left a baseball-sized bruise, according to the report.
Shackelford eventually fled the scene when he realized the authorities had been called, and a manhunt was initiated, according to the report.
Later, he returned to the apartment, and the woman, as well as Shackelford’s bail bondsman called to report the incident, according to the report.
The 911 dispatch center was called, and they could reportedly hear screaming and cursing in the background. The bail bondsman said that before he arrived, he heard a loud bang inside the apartment, followed by the woman screaming, “Get off me!”
The bondsman reportedly heard footsteps running toward the front door, and the woman came running out of the apartment with Shackelford chasing, according to the report.
Officers arrived on-scene and arrested Shackelford, according to the news release.
He faces charges of Domestic Battery, Aggravated Assault, Terrorist Threatening, Stalking, Residential Burglary and Endangerment of a Child, according to the report.
Many of the events, including the ones detailed above, were witnessed by the ex-girlfriend’s two-year-old daughter, according to the report.
