Police: Man wrecks truck while stabbing woman

An Idaho Falls man was arrested after police said he wrecked his truck in attempts to kill his 30-year-old passenger.

Colby Heaton, 42, of Idaho Falls was arrested on a charge of aggravated battery with intent to commit a serious felony. Idaho Falls police announced the arrest Monday.

Police responded to Science Center Drive and Fremont Avenue around 2:36 p.m. Saturday for a report onan injury vehicle accident. The caller told dispatch that the driver fled from the scene and the passenger had been stabbed.

According to witnesses, Heaton was driving a red truck at a high rate of speed and crashed into a tree.

Jamie Van Dyke was jogging through Freeman Park on Saturday afternoon when the truck flew across the footpath in front of her, smashing into a cluster of trees.

Heaton stumbled out, and his girlfriend, a 30-year-old woman, tried to run. She later told police she jumped from the vehicle before the crash.

“I pulled down my headphones when I saw the truck coming really fast, and she was screaming,” said Van Dyke, adding that the girlfriend said, “‘He’s trying to kill me. He beat me with a hammer.'”

Van Dyke ran to help.

“She had some pretty bad wounds, so we tried to bandage them up a little before EMT got here,” she said “I used my tank top, and there was a guy who had a bottle of water that hadn’t been opened. (Heaton) came back for a minute to argue with her saying that he wasn’t trying to hurt her, and she kept screaming, ‘Tell that to the stab marks all over my body!’

“I just told him, ‘You need to stay away from us,’ and I tried to help her up the hill.”

After a frantic few moments, “she finally passed out up on the grass a little ways,” said Van Dyke.

The woman told police she and Heaton had been in an argument since Thursday at their home in the 1600 block of South Boulevard.

She said Heaton struck her with his hands, feet and a hammer and broke a glass ash tray on her head at the residence.

On Saturday, the two went for a drive when Heaton began driving erratically and stabbed her with a pair of scissors. The woman told police she feared for her life.

Police detained Heaton, who matched the description of the driver, walking from the bathrooms at Science Center and Latah.

Heaton is in the Bonneville County Jail.

At the Idaho Falls Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Center, intervention manager Teena McBride said if someone is being abused, intervention is sometimes necessary.

“Letting people know that you’re hearing them, that you’re seeing what is happening, just gently saying, ‘It’s getting kind of loud,'” she suggested.

She said sometimes simply stating you are aware of the abuse can encourage an individual to stop.

“Only if that’s a safe intervention. Again you have to be thinking, not only is it safe for you as a bystander to intervene, but then how can I protect the person who is the target of the violence?” she said.

McBride said if it seems someone could be in immediate danger, do not hesitate to call 9-11.

If you or a loved one are in an abusive or violent relationship, the Domestic Violence Hotline is 235-2412.