LAKE WORTH, Texas — The entire criminal investigation division of the Lake Worth Police Department mobilized Tuesday to save a severely injured woman being held captive by her abuser, police said.
Officers were informed about the case from a concerned citizen, police added. An investigation was immediately initiated, which mobilized the department's entire criminal investigation division to help.
The suspect was quickly identified as 27-year-old Dewitt Guice. Police said Guice is a habitual abuser who was bonded out of jail on an ankle monitor after being arrested by Fort Worth police in March for assault causing bodily injury, family violence.
Police said Guice also had prior arrests for assault with a deadly weapon and a conviction for assault causing bodily injury.
Police told WFAA that Guice took the victim from her home, away from family and friends, and held her captive overnight at America's Best Value Inn off of I-30 Frontage Rd. in Fort Worth.
Guice was quickly found by officers using data from his ankle monitor, and he was surrounded at a nearby hotel room where the victim was held. Officers took him into custody an hour and 39 minutes after first receiving the call.
The victim was given immediate medical treatment from paramedics standing by, police said. She was taken to a nearby hospital because of the severity of her wounds and is in stable condition.
"The injuries she sustained were the worst I've seen in my 19 years," Lake Worth Police Chief J.T. Manoushagian said.
“To the victims of domestic violence and the cowards who abuse – we’re coming for you,” Manoushagian said in a written statement. "It is unfathomable what he did to her."
Manoushagian said he believes officers potentially saved the victim's life.
"Based on her injuries, I don’t know how much more she could've taken," Manoushagian said. “The men and women of the Lake Worth Police Department stand boldly with our community and leaders from across our county to say that we will not tolerate domestic violence in Lake Worth or Tarrant County.”
Guice was charged with assault causing bodily injury, family violence, with a previous conviction – a third-degree felony, and unlawful restraint, a Class A misdemeanor.