Crime & Safety

Police: Man Imprisons, Assaults Girlfriend at Howard Johnson Inn

The hotel clerk called police after seeing a bloodied guest with what appeared to be a broken jaw.

Police believe an Athens man assaulted his Murrayville girlfriend and held her captive in the Howard Johnson Inn most of Sunday. When they found her on Sunday night, the woman had a swollen eye, a scratch on her chin and redness on her neck.

According to a story in the Athens Banner Herald, police found William Scott Hilsman, 45, in a motel room stuffed with beer bottles. He was wearing long johns and had scratches on his chest and face. 

The 37-year-old girlfriend told police that Hilsman was a control freak, the story said. The two had dated for years, she told police. 

Sunday night, the woman told police, she turned on the television to watch the Atlanta Falcons football game during the third quarter, the story says. She moved to a different bed to watch the game, and Hilsman became angry, wanting to know why she moved.

His anger allegedly escalated into an altercation, the girlfriend said, and he choked her while he was holding her down on a bed.

Hilsman has been charged with battery and false imprisonment.



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