Man Faces Kidnapping, Sexual Assault Charges

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A Tennessee man is in jail after his arrest Saturday morning near Arlington on kidnapping and sexual assault charges.

Early Saturday morning, around 6:12 a.m., the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a female reporting she had been kidnapped and was trapped in a car traveling on Interstate 84.

William Cooter
William Cooter
Members from the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office, Gilliam County Sheriff’s Office and Oregon State Police responded and located the vehicle on I-84 traveling westbound near milepost 143, east of Arlington.

Law enforcement stopped the vehicle and the driver was identified as William T. Cooter II, 42, of Greenville, Tenn. The female was located inside the vehicle and identified as the person who called 911.

A roadside investigation revealed Cooter had assaulted and held his female passenger against her will. It was also learned that Cooter and the female did not know each other prior to the incident.

Cooter was arrested and was lodged at the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility in The Dalles on the following charges: first-degree kidnapping, first-degree rape, first-degree sex abuse, first-degree sodomy, fourth-degree assault, coercion, menacing, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle, second-degree criminal mischief, providing false Information to a police officer, possession of methamphetamine, and interfering with making a report.