Man accused of kidnapping wife, leaving her naked at Walmart

GILLETTE — A Gillette man is accused of kidnapping his wife and leaving her naked at Walmart, allegedly telling her he wanted her to be embarrassed.

John Jesse Crump, 37, is charged with kidnapping, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. He also has been charged with misdemeanor counts of domestic battery and false imprisonment.

The two had been to Boot Hill Nightclub on Sept. 12 and had begun to argue on the drive home. She told police he told her she needed to pack her belongings and move out, but she said couldn’t because it was past 2 a.m., according to an affidavit of probable cause.

She pulled over at his request about 1.2 miles west of Highway 14-16 on Middle Prong Road. He told her she needed to get out. Initially, she refused, but then agreed to walk home as long as she could get her jacket out of the truck, the affidavit says.

While she was getting her jacket on, he ripped it off, telling he that she wasn’t coming home. He eventually wrestled her to the ground, pulled her hair and dragged her back toward the truck, which caused a road rash to her back. He ripped off all of her clothes and forced her back into the back seat of the truck, according to the affidavit.

He drove back to town, threatening her along the way and asking her at one point if it would be more embarrassing to be left on the side of a road to be dropped off and left in public, according to the affidavit. She asked to be dropped off in a ditch.

But he continued to drive to town and when he reached Walmart, he made her get out of the truck. She ran to the front doors, screamed for help and an employee let her in. She grabbed a rug to cover herself and tried to hide in the produce section of the store, the affidavit says.

After police arrived, Crump reportedly tried to walk into Walmart, where his wife saw him and began to scream, the affidavit says.

He would not talk to police.

On Middle Prong Road, deputies found her ID in the middle of the road, along with her shirt and sweater, according to the affidavit. There also were markings in the road consistent with a person being dragged.

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 23 to determine if there is probable cause to suspect him of the crime and whether to bind him over to District Court on the charges.