Soldier charged with assault, kidnapping

Byline

A Deschutes County grand jury indicted Michael L. Sampels, Jr., of Tennessee on July 7, on charges of second-degree kidnapping, domestic assault, attempted second-degree assault and resisting arrest.

The charges stemmed from a July 2 incident in which Sampels allegedly pushed his wife to the floor of their Sisters motel room, dragged her around by her hair and choked her.

The couple was in Sisters to attend the woman's brother's wedding, deputies reported.

According to sheriff's office reports, a deputy was summoned to the Ponderosa Lodge and witnessed through a sliding glass door Sampels attacking his wife.

A second deputy arrived and the pair knocked on Sampels' door and identified themselves as police. When Sampels opened the door, the deputies reportedly told him he was under arrest for assault and ordered him to turn around and place his hands behind his back.

Sampels allegedly pulled away and began to resist when a deputy took his arm. According to sheriff's office reports, one deputy took Sampels to the ground while the other helped subdue him.

Sampels' eye glasses were reportedly broken in the melee.

Sampels was handcuffed and taken to jail. On the ride, he allegedly told a deputy that he and his wife had been fighting since he had returned from service in Kosovo. He reportedly believed she was unfaithful to him and had spent all his money.

The woman told another deputy that Sampels had gotten angry at her at the wedding reception and left her there.

When she returned to the motel late that night, she said, he "blew up" at her, attacking her physically and refusing to allow her to leave the motel room.

The deputy noted that the woman had a knot on her forehead, a rug burn on her temple, red marks on her throat and that her dress was torn.

The deputy also noted that the woman appeared to have been drinking.

According to sheriff's office reports, the woman told the deputy that her husband, a soldier in the U.S. Army, had assaulted her three times before and military police had removed him from their home. However, she told the deputy, Sampels had never been prosecuted.

He was required to receive counseling about alcohol abuse.