News-Record.com

MAYODAN — A man who escaped house arrest last month by cutting off his electronic ankle bracelet has been caught.

Mayodan police said today that they arrested Jason Lee Tuggle, 26, on Sunday in Hope Mills. Tuggle, of 309 N. 7th Ave. in Mayodan, was last seen at home on June 9. Since then, police said they had received numerous reports that Tuggle was in the Fayetteville area.

While police were looking for Tuggle, a Rockingham County grand jury indicted him on July 7 for attempted statutory rape. Police said other charges are pending.

The indictment came a month after a 14-year-girl said a man tried to attack her at Tuggle's Mayodan home. The assault happened on June 8, and police said the girl reported the offense on June 9. Sometime late on June 9, Tuggle clipped off an electronic ankle bracelet and disappeared.

Police said Tuggle, who has a lengthy criminal record, was wearing the monitoring device as a condition of a pretrial release for an earlier charge of assault with a deadly weapon.

Tuggle is currently being hospitalized for injuries he suffered before he was arrested. Police said he will go before a Rockingham County magistrate when he is released from the hospital. Police declined to say where Tuggle is being treated.