by Kate Shunney
A Great Cacapon resident was arrested on Tuesday night by local police after he allegedly tried to kill his girlfriend near Oldtown, Md. and left her by the side of the road there.
Local law enforcement was dispatched to the couple’s residence in Great Cacapon on Tuesday, January 15 shortly before 8 p.m. after the suspect fled the Oldtown area and into West Virginia, having allegedly threatened to harm the victim’s daughters. Morgan County officers apprehended him there without incident. The children were unharmed.
Maryland troopers had responded to an area west of Oldtown, Md. along Maryland Route 51 at roughly 7:45 p.m. for a call that a woman had been assaulted with an “edged weapon” and had been dumped along Oldtown Road. According to police, the victim identified her attacker as her boyfriend, Victor L. Kitchen, 53.
Victor L. Kitchen
Kitchen had allegedly cut the victim in her hand with a knife while the two were arguing in the car. The victim told police Kitchen then started to drive erratically, and she was able to shift the car into “park” to stop the vehicle in the roadway.
The woman alleged she got out of the vehicle, but Kitchen chased her and tackled her to roadway. A witness
told police Kitchen started to slam the victim’s head into the ground near the car. When the witness stopped their vehicle to intervene, Kitchen fled the scene in his 2018 Dodge Challenger.
Morgan County 911 alerted law enforcement that Kitchen was believed to be headed to the couple’s residence in the 18000 block of Cacapon Road, and had threatened to harm the victim’s children.
Morgan County Sheriff’s Deputy Dennis Jenkins and West Virginia State Police Cpl. Sam Smith, along with Deputy Tony Link and Paw Paw Patrolman Jeremy Burkholder responded to the victim’s residence.
According to two criminal complaints filed in Morgan County Magistrate Court, Deputy Jenkins and Cpl. Smith arrived at the residence shortly before 8:15 p.m. and found the suspect, who they detained without incident. The victim’s children were unharmed at the home.
Kitchen allegedly admitted he had been drinking and failed a field sobriety test. Deputy Jenkins charged Kitchen with DUI and being a fugitive from Maryland.
Police also found two handguns in the residence close to the suspect. Cpl. Smith, during his investigation, discovered an active domestic violence petition against Kitchen out of Jackson County, Mississippi from August 2017. He charged Kitchen with being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm.
Local law enforcement also served Kitchen with arrest warrants from Allegany County, Md. for attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, false imprisonment and possession of a dangerous weapon with the intent to injure.
Kitchen is being held without bond at the Eastern Regional Jail. He faces extradition back to Maryland to answer charges there for the incident.
The victim was treated for her injuries at the Western Maryland Regional Medical Center and released.
