Cape Girardeau man gets seven years for assault

A Cape Girardeau man charged with domestic assault and resisting arrest was sentenced to seven years in prison Tuesday before Circuit Court Judge David Dolan in Mississippi County.

Terry S. Pruitt, 33, held a female captive for nearly two hours in early January 2009 and beat her with a broom until its handle snapped, a looped electric cord and his hands.

Pruitt pleaded guilty to the charges in court last month.

When police responded to the incident in 2009, they found a pool of blood near the front door and, through the front window, saw a nude woman covered in blood.

At first, Pruitt refused to come out of the residence, then attempted to flee by jumping out a rear window of the house. He was eventually apprehended by canine officer Jeff Bourbon and his canine Toben. Toben bit Pruitt in the right leg, just below the knee.

Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said the victim came forward on behalf of the defendant during proceedings Tuesday, asking the judge not to send him to prison, but instead to send him home.

Swingle argued Pruitt needed to be serve prison time so he would not beat other women as badly as the victim in this case was.

ehevern@semissourian.com

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