Boardman man arrested after woman kidnapped, assaulted

A Boardman man was arrested Saturday after a woman, found bloody and wearing only a coat, told authorities he kidnapped her and assaulted her.

The victim was found standing outside a home on Hill Top Road in Boardman just after 7:30 a.m., a release said. She was taken to Good Shepherd Hospital in Hermiston before being transferred for a serious head injury to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland.

The woman told police that Travis L. Thomas, 44, kidnapped her and forced her into his motor home at 70072 Kunze Road.

“While inside Travis Thomas’ motor home, he bound her feet and hands, assaulted and strangled her for several hours before she was able to escape,” the release said.

Thomas would not come to the door of the motor home when Boardman police and Morrow County sheriff’s deputies first attempted to contact him. The sheriff’s office received a search warrant and when they returned, they found Thomas sitting on the floor of the motor home. He was arrested without incident and multiple items were seized as evidence.

Thomas is in the Umatilla County jail on suspicion of first-degree assault, strangulation, first-degree kidnapping, menacing and a restraining order violation.

This story was originally published February 22, 2016 at 4:17 PM with the headline "Boardman man arrested after woman kidnapped, assaulted."