BECKLEY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – A Beckley man is facing multiple charges after police say he attacked a woman with a knife and held her against her will during a violent domestic incident inside and outside a Beckley hotel on December 3.
Carsen Lee Burnum, 27, of Beckley, was arrested following the reported altercation and is now being held at Southern Regional Jail on a $75,000 bond, according to a criminal complaint filed in Raleigh County Magistrate Court.
According to the complaint, officers responded to the Smart Hotel on Harper Road after a witness reported seeing a male assaulting a woman outside a hotel room. The witness, who stepped in to help the woman, told police the man had cut her with a knife.
When patrol officers arrived, they found the woman with a cut on her arm. She told police that Burnum had chased her inside her hotel room and slashed her with a knife before fleeing the scene.
Officers later found the second victim inside the hotel who said she had been assaulted moments earlier.
The woman inside the hotel told police she attempted to leave the room, but Burnum allegedly got on top of her on the bed, grabbed her by the throat, and held her down.
She stated she managed to kick him off, but he stood by the door with a knife and reportedly told her: “The only way out of this relationship is death.”
The woman showed police fresh bruises on her neck, according to the complaint, and said Burnum later forced her out of the room, continuing to push her around. She said another person intervened, and Burnum cut that person before running away.
Police say surveillance video confirmed part of the attack, showing Burnum chasing one of the victims outside the hotel before fleeing eastbound on Harper Road.
A Raleigh General Hospital security officer later reported that Burnum entered the hospital to warm up before leaving in a blue SUV. Officers, using an address connected to Burnum’s mother, located the vehicle and arrested him at the residence.
Once transported to the Beckley Police Department, officers reviewed Burnum’s records and determined he was already out on bond. The complaint states the hotel incident constituted a violation of that bond.
Burnum is charged with:
- Strangulation
- Unlawful Battery
- Unlawful Restraint
- Domestic Battery
- Bond Violation
Burnum remains housed at Southern Regional Jail on a $75,000 bond pending further court proceedings.
