Topeka man, 36, accused of pistol-whipping girlfriend in Lawrence

A Topeka man was arrested Wednesday night after he struck his girlfriend, also of Topeka, in the back of the head with a pistol, police said.

Around 8:15 p.m., police were notified of a woman reportedly assaulted by her boyfriend in a vehicle near the intersection of 2nd and McDonald streets, said Lawrence Police Sgt. Ted Bordman.

The couple had been arguing, Bordman said, but he could not specify what the argument had been about.

Shortly after receiving the call, officers found the victim, 34, with “an injury to the head” in the 1900 block of West 2nd Street, Bordman said. She was taken by ambulance to Lawrence Memorial Hospital with injuries that did not appear life-threatening, he said.

The suspect’s vehicle, a 2000 Dodge SUV, was found around 8:45 p.m. near the Kansas Turnpike Authority’s southwest gate, not far from Holiday Inn, 200 McDonald Drive, Bordman said.

“We made contact with the vehicle, and he did not respond,” he said. “And we believed him to be armed in the vehicle.”

Officers then waited for “protective bunkers” to arrive on the scene before approaching the SUV, Bordman said. When the “tactical equipment” arrived, police were able to approach the car and take the suspect, 36, into custody and locate the pistol.

Neither the suspect nor the officers were injured during the incident, Bordman said.

Bordman said because the suspect was not yet booked into the Douglas County Jail he would not release his name or discuss pending criminal charges, nor would he say whether or not the pistol was loaded.

The original version of this story incorrectly referred to the Kansas Turnpike Authority as the Kansas Transit Authority. The mistake has been corrected.