Abduction suspect apprehended

The Monroe County police arrested 53-year-old Jimmy Edwards last week in connection with the attempted abduction of a 23-year-old female social worker near Lake Monroe July 26. Edwards was preliminarily charged with attempted murder, criminal confinement, battery and being a habitual offender. \nAccording to Monroe County Police, the social worker was visiting the lake with an autistic teenage boy. On their way back to her car parked on Monroe Dam Road, she saw a man she didn't know standing by his convertible with its hood up. Claiming car trouble, the man asked the social worker to turn on his ignition while he checked his engine. When the social worker approached the car, the man forced her inside and threatened her with a knife.\nThe victim put up a struggle and managed to escape her captor after injuring him. During the struggle, the attacker tried to drive away with the woman and dragged her for a short distance before letting go, according to police.\nMonroe County Sheriff's Department Det. Brad Swain said during the struggle the suspect threatened to kill the woman with a knife.\nShortly after the encounter, officers responding by chance on a country road near the lake passed the suspect's car and turned around to pursue him. The suspect fled the scene, crashed soon afterward and escaped the officers on foot.\nThe abandoned car was registered to Edwards. The next day, police received notification that Edwards was home and that a family member was taking him to the hospital for an injury sustained either during the struggle or the car crash that followed. The officers apprehended Edwards as the vehicle was pulling out of the driveway.\nSwain said Edwards was convicted of aggravated battery in 1972 when he attacked a 21-year-old woman with a rope from behind near Third Street Park. He came up behind the woman, wrapped the rope around her neck and dragged her into the bushes to try to rape her. A patrol officer and two men came to the victim's rescue and Edwards was sentenced to one to five years in jail.\n"One of my concerns is that he had the same behavior in 1972 as in 2004," Swain said. "I don't think that part of his personality that is driven to attack women during that time period was dormant and I think it's worth exploring."\nSwain said he has given Edwards' picture and information to the IU Police Department to investigate past unsolved attacks on campus.\nAn initial hearing on the case was held on July 29 where bail was set at $500,000.