A Cedar Hill man has been accused of attacking a woman with a blade attached to a staff at a home in the 9600 block of Wine Creek Farm Road in Cedar Hill. The woman was stabbed at least twice and was transported to an area hospital where she was treated for non-life-threatening injuries, Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak announced.
Joshua Plack, 35, allegedly attacked the woman early this morning, Jan. 6. He was arrested later in the morning after being detained by Eureka Police at a gas station, authorities reported.
Plack has been charged with first-degree assault, a class A felony punishable by 10 to 30 years or life in prison; and armed criminal action, an unclassified felony that carries a penalty of three to 15 years in prison, according to court documents.
Plack was being held without bond at the Jefferson County Jail in Hillsboro, court records show.
According to the probable-cause statement in the case, Plack became enraged with the woman at about 10:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 5, and he threatened to kill her if she did not leave the Cedar Hill home. The woman had been staying at the home for a couple of days.
Plack reportedly started yelling at the woman again at about 12:30 a.m. today, and as she tried to leave, he followed her from a bedroom into the living room. That’s where he allegedly grabbed a an approximately 4-foot-long staff with a blade attached to the end and ran at the woman, the report said.
Plack allegedly stabbed the woman in the abdomen and continued to slash at her with the blade. The woman was cut on her arms and chest and was stabbed in her back, according to the report.
Another man in the home told deputies that he saw Plack holding the staff, and that Plack was near the injured woman in the living room, the report said.
The probable-cause statement said Plack threatened to kill the other man, but it is not clear when the threat was made.
After the alleged attack, Plack got into a GMC Yukon and left the home. A Sheriff’s Office detective reported that he saw the SUV backing away from other deputies’ vehicles, and Plack fled the scene at a high rate of speed.
Eureka Police Chief Michael Werges said after his department was contacted about the fleeing SUV, an officer saw the Yukon parked at a gas pump at the QuikTrip gas station, 290 E. Fourth St. Eureka Police officers surrounded the vehicle and detained Plack, who was then arrested by responding deputies, Werges said.
Plack allegedly told a Sheriff’s Office detective that the woman grabbed the staff and blade off a wall where it was mounted and began swinging it around. He said the woman was holding the blade end, and she cut herself while he took the staff away from her, the report said.
Plack didn’t have an explanation for how the woman was stabbed in the back, and he allegedly admitted to speeding away from the deputies and turning the SUV’s lights off to get away, according to the report.
Deputies allegedly found the staff in the Yukon that Plack drove to Eureka, the report said.