Woman ‘severely beaten,’ hospitalized in attack

Maricopa Police Department arrested a man accused of brutally beating a woman in her Maricopa Meadows home. 

Police arrested 40-year-old James C. Crabtree after a weeks-long investigation, according to a probable cause statement obtained by InMaricopa. 

It started when a delirious woman franticly rang doorbells around the Maricopa Meadows neighborhood at 2:30 a.m. Nov. 5. Officers described the woman as “severely beaten” when they found her. 

Cops found the woman and transported her to the hospital, where she was found to have had an orbital fracture and tibia fracture. She had bruises on her face and body and needed stitches on her leg. 

The woman first told officers she didn’t know who attacked her. 

Two days later, she showed up at the Maricopa police station and named Crabtree her attacker, according to the probable cause statement.  

The woman said she was in her house when Crabtree entered the front door. She noted he had a house key. MPD did not disclose the relationship between the two. 

The woman described Crabtree as upset with an evil look on his face. She alleged he started beating her when she was on the couch, and that a struggle ensued. She said Crabtree grabbed a candle holder and used it to hit her, causing the bloody leg injury. 

According to police documents, the woman told officers she eventually escaped out the front door. She said she was able to identify Crabtree because the lights were on during the alleged assault. 

After returning to the house from the hospital, the woman said she found a glass cabinet and TV were broken. The doorframe to the bathroom, a dining room chair and two candle holders were damaged. She said she believed some of the damage was done after her escape. 

MPD did not disclose specifics of Crabtree’s arrest Nov. 21. 

He was booked into the Pinal County jail on two felony domestic violence counts of aggravated assault and entering a home to assault. He was also slapped with a misdemeanor count of criminal damage.  

He faces more than 13 years in prison. 

Read more public safety stories here.