McAlester Man Accused Of Kidnapping, Torturing Girlfriend For 5 Days

An Oklahoma woman escaped after she says her boyfriend tortured and held her captive for several days.

Clyde Harshaw, 42, was arrested Friday near McAlester.

The woman told investigators Harshaw drugged her and tied her up to keep her from escaping, then beat her for five days using different tools.

"There was several things that related to torture-type stuff," said Pittsburg County Sheriff Joel Kerns.

Kerns said Clyde Harshaw used extension cords and rope to tie up his girlfriend, then tortured her by trying to set her hair on fire and ripping it out with a power drill.

"She alleged that he had taken a drill, with a bit still on it, put it at her head and turn the drill on. The hair would catch up in the drill and pull patches of hair out," Kerns said.

Court documents show Harshaw used a pocket knife to cut the 27-year-old woman's arms and legs. The woman told deputies Harshaw burned her by pouring acid on her open wounds, then beat her legs with a hammer.

"He had actually taken the claw of the hammer and hit her in the knees and legs with it," Kerns said.

The sheriff said Harshaw was also cooking meth and injecting it into the woman to test its strength.

She told deputies Harshaw couldn't legally buy pseudoephedrine, one of the key components used to make meth, so she had been buying it for him, but reached the legal limit.

The sheriff said that's when the five days of torture began.

"He was still wanting her to buy them, and actually she refused to buy them anymore, because she was afraid of going to jail herself," Kerns said.

The woman made her escape through a screen door Harshaw had left open. She told deputies he was distracted while burning her clothes.

A passerby found the woman along a Pittsburg County road and helped get her to safety.

Harshaw denied causing the woman's injuries, which also included a broken nose.

Court documents show, when Harshaw was interviewed by investigators, he said he hadn't seen his girlfriend in a couple of days.

Harshaw is charged with two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, as well as kidnapping and domestic abuse resulting in great bodily injury.