Warrants: Asheville man kidnaps, strangles woman

ASHEVILLE - Police arrested an Asheville man after a woman called 911 and said the man she had been dating tried to sell her as a prostitute and strangle her, according to a search warrant at the Buncombe County Magistrate's Office on Thursday.

The woman called the Asheville Police Department at 8:31 p.m. Sunday as she was walking down Keebler Road, between Biltmore Avenue and Kenilworth Road on the eastern side of Asheville, the search warrant states.

"Someone choked me and almost strangled me to death and crushed me," the caller told a 911 dispatcher.

The woman said she escaped the man's home on the 20th block of Keebler Road after he fell asleep.

Reshod Lamar Henderson, 41, of Asheville, was arrested by police Monday and charged with felony assault by strangulation, felony second-degree kidnapping, and misdemeanor assault on a female, according to arrest warrants filed by the Asheville Police Department.

He remained in custody Thursday at the Buncombe County Detention Facility in lieu of a $300,000 secured bond.

The victim told an Asheville police detective that she discovered Henderson had posted an ad online about her just before the incident, a search warrant states.

"The ad indicated that the victim was a prostitute," according to the court document. "The victim confronted Henderson at which point he attacked her, and strangled her to the extent of her becoming unconscious."

During the attack, the victim lost mobility of her neck, according to arrest warrants filed in the case. Henderson was accused of wrapping his arms around her neck and striking the woman in the face with closed a fist, warrants state.

He also prevented her from leaving his home, according to the 911 call.

"He told me if I tried to leave he would kill me and he tried to kill me," according to the nine-minute call. She also said she had markings and bruising on her neck.

The victim said that while she was kept captive she tried to scream, but no one heard her, according to the 911 call.

"I kept screaming for help and for him to take his hands off of me and stop choking me but he wouldn’t," she said.

The victim said Henderson physically assaulted her about three hours before she was able to escape.

She also told police Henderson had a knife and gun that he kept under his mattress, but she was unsure if he had any other weapons in his house since they "had only been dating for two weeks," according to the 911 call.

According to a search warrant, the victim believed Henderson had several handguns in the house.

Police did not find any weapons when they searched the residence, said spokesman Wallace Welch with the city police department.

The residence was searched Monday afternoon. Police seized a Duke Energy bill and cell phone, according to a search warrant. Henderson was also home at the time of the search and brought into custody.

Before police searched the home, they discovered that Henderson has been convicted of a felony in New York.

He was convicted in 2003 of felony assault II with intent to cause physical injury to officer, firemen or EMT. That day he was also charged with first-degree reckless endangerment, also a felony, according to a search warrant filed in the case. He was convicted in 2004 on the second charge.

According to state records, Henderson was convicted in Buncombe County in 2001 under the name Reshad Henderson.

He had been convicted of possessing a schedule VI and schedule II controlled substance, possessing drug paraphernalia, and second-degree trespass, which are all misdemeanor charges, according to records with the North Carolina Department of Public Safety. He was sentenced to probation and has never been incarcerated.

According to a document filed at the time of Henderson's arrest, a magistrate documented that the defendant had a history of assault charges including being charged with assault by strangulation.

County courthouse records show Henderson was previously charged with assault by strangulation and interfering in emergency communications in an August incident, but the case was disposed on Jan. 13 in Buncombe County Superior Court .

His next appearance in Buncombe County District Court was scheduled for April 12, according to records at the courthouse Thursday.

Police were continuing to investigate the incident and other allegations made against Henderson on Thursday, Welch said.