A Texas man has been charged after allegedly kidnapping and assaulting over five days a woman he met on the Bumble dating app.
Zachary Mills, 21, was arrested late last month after he allegedly took the date to his Houston area apartment and held her there when she refused to immediately have sex with him, the unidentified woman told police.
She accused him of repeatedly punching her, biting her on the neck and face, and also striking her with the handle of a screwdriver. The woman said she was given no food or water during the time she was held, according to a police statement and the criminal complaint against Mills.
She managed to escape on Dec. 29 when Mills left the apartment, according to the complaint. She gathered up her clothes, ran out the door, and “contacted the first people who she came in contact with and advised them of what had occurred,” the complaint states.
She had “severe bruising to both eyes, bite marks and cuts to both her throat and nose, and severe bruising to the majority of her body,” according to the complaint. She was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office charged Mills with first-degree aggravated kidnapping.
He was released on a $50,000 bond. As part of the bond conditions, Mills is not allowed to come within 200 feet of where the victim “lives, works, or attends school” and has to observe a 24-hour home confinement curfew, according to court records.
“Right now, Mr. Mills is presumed innocent. Until then, we will review discovery, strategize and prepare a defense,” his attorney Chris Denuna said in an early statement.
On Friday, Denuna said there were “credibility issues” with the case and that there’s “more to” the couple’s relationship, reported ABC13 KTRT-TV in Houston.
Mills’ next scheduled court appearance is March 3.
There was no immediate reaction from Bumble.