ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A man who police said held a woman for days in a St. Augustine hotel room, beating and sexually assaulting her, kidnapped the woman the same day he was released from jail, according to the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office.
The woman told police that she managed to call for help Friday when her attacker briefly left the room, according to a report from the St. Augustine Police Department.
The woman was injured so badly that she had to be airlifted to UF Health from Flagler Hospital.
According to the report, the woman told police that the man who kept her prisoner in the room was Charles Hugh Marshall, 49, who is homeless. He was arrested and charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, false imprisonment and aggravated battery.
He is being held on $145,000 bond.
Deputies confirmed Tuesday that Marshall was released from the St. Johns County jail last week after serving a sentence for a conviction of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced to 180 days in jail, but was given credit for time served and was released Feb. 27.
The same day he got out of jail, he kidnapped the woman, authorities said.
According to Marshall's arrest report, police were called to the Red Carpet Inn hotel on Ponce De Leon Boulevard to investigate when the woman called Friday to report an alleged assault.
When officers arrived, the female victim was already being taken to Flagler Hospital with multiple serious injuries to her body.
According to the report, Marshall began punching the victim in the face and head last Tuesday when she tried to leave the hotel room. The next day, she said, he sexually assaulted her with cocaine and forced her to swallow cocaine on his fingers, according to police.
The woman told officers that Marshall said she deserved what she got because he accused her of “having sex with half (of) St. Augustine's transients in a hotel room.”
The woman also told officers that she did not call 911 right away because Marshall was in the room with her and she feared for her life after already being beaten. She said she managed to call for help Friday when Marshall briefly left the room, according to police.
When officers took Marshall into custody, he had the woman's cellphone and debit card on him.
The victim’s injuries were so serious that she had to be flown from Flagler Hospital to UF Health in Jacksonville, police said.
A man who works across the street from the hotel, who wished to remain anonymous, described the scene as police arrived.
"I looked over and there was a female officer and another officer. They were standing over here. They were waiting for backup. A second car came and they went into the room over there," he recounted to News4Jax on Monday.
The arresting officer noted in his report that while Marshall was being transported to the St. Johns County Jail, he said, “I took care of business, and that’s what a man does.” The officer also noted in his report that Marshall used several vulgar names to refer to the victim.
Another officer who secured the crime scene noted in his report that there was blood splattered throughout the hotel room. He also stated there were two large pools of dried-up blood near the entrance.
A third officer noted in his report that while he was looking for Marshall, he was flagged down by a woman who said Marshall was harassing people in front of a Winn Dixie on North Pone De Leon Boulevard. That officer found Marshall in the store parking lot, sitting in the passenger seat of a car.
The driver of that car told officers she was helping Marshall and that they were praying after he approached her for money. Marshall was removed from the car and immediately taken into custody when more officers arrived to back up the third officer.
Court records show Marshall has been arrested 14 times in St. Augustine with multiple convictions for assault, battery and strangulation.