Police: ‘Jerry Springer’ Episode Leads to Punches, Stabbing, Trail of Blood

WEST DES MOINES, IA -- An argument that started over an episode of “The Jerry Springer Show” ended when a woman reportedly chased her alleged abuser out of her West Des Moines apartment with a knife, leaving a trail of blood behind and causing him to run away and hide in another unit.

The incident occurred at a local apartment complex in earlier this month, according to a report on file at the West Des Moines Police Department. Charges have not been filed.

Officer Jason Hatcher said that when he arrived at the apartment about 2 p.m. on March 12, he found the unit in the 3100 block of E.P. True Parkway in a state of disarray. Furniture had been knocked over, and Hatcher reported seeing a pool of blood near the main entryway and several knives lying on the kitchen floor. One of them was broken.

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The suspect, a 55-year-old Des Moines man, had fled by the time Hatcher arrived. The victim, the 47-year-old resident of the apartment, told the officer  she and her “on again, off again” boyfriend had been watching Jerry Springer’s syndicated tabloid television show when she confronted him about having cheated on her with another woman.

The couple reportedly struggled physically for several minutes, and he at one point grabbed the victim around the neck and began choking her. He reportedly punched her in the face and stomach, and as she was trying to wriggle free, she reached behind her and grabbed a kitchen knife.

Hatcher reported the victim was “extremely emotional” when he interviewed her, but he was able to piece together the following:

“She freely admitted that she tried to stab him in an attempt to get him to quit punching her, but her attempts were unsuccessful. He eventually climbed to his feet and started to back out of the apartment while she was following him with a knife in hand. He tried to grab it and in doing so, bent the knife and cut either one or both of his hands. There was blood all over the hallway leading to her apartment door and it was consistent with what she was telling police.”

After the man fled the apartment, she reportedly called her neighbor, who also is her friend and employer, and he advised her to call police.  The suspect had reportedly been knocking frantically at his door and pushed his way in, asking the other man to lock the door because “he was afraid his girlfriend might be after him and he was trying to hide from her,” according to the report.

The victim declined medical attention, Hatcher reported.

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