A 23-year-old Taneytown man who sent police on a five-hour manhunt, after allegedly holding his girlfriend hostage and beating her, has a long list of prior charges, court documents show.
Raymond Eric Saunders is being held after failing to post a $50,000 bail. He allegedly assaulted a Taneytown police officer, threatened to kill his girlfriend and fled, causing police from four agencies in Carroll County to launch an extensive search with helicopters and canines.
He has been charged with assault and resisting arrest several times in the past, most recently in January 2006 in Carroll, according to the court records. He was acquitted in that case.
But a jury found him guilty of resisting arrest, second-degree assault and disorderly conduct stemming from a June 2005 incident, records show.
He has also been found guilty of fourth-degree sex offense.
An argument between Saunders and his 22-year-old girlfriend escalated last Thursday from a domestic disagreement into a physical fight, in which he tied up her up andgagged her, police said.
She managed to use a phone to call for help, and when police arrived at Saunders? home in the unit block of Fairground Avenue, officers said they found the woman battered and bound.
Saunders had threatened to kill her but the cause of the argument was unclear, said Taneytown Police Chief William Tyler.
When police attempted to arrest him, Saunders fought back and fled, Tyler said.
“He wasn?t seriously injured, but it was enough force to warrant visible signs of injuries,” Tyler said of the assaulted officer. “Saunders fled on foot, and over the next five hours, we had a large contingent of law-enforcement officers, with helicopters and canines, saturating the area.”
Police arrested Saunders about five hours later in Westminster.
