CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Tia McClain says the sharp end of a shovel was the only thing that helped her escape after a vicious attack, robbery and being tied up inside her own garage in Clinton Township in early April.
She now considers herself fortunate to have survived after being brutally assaulted.
Prosecutors have now charged 48-year-old Shane Fountain with a felony assault by strangulation, robbery and unlawful imprisonment, in connection with the theft of a $17,000 engagement ring.
“He just put me in a choke hold and told me to go to sleep, then robbed me and took off,” says victim Tia McClain. “I was terrified and he wouldn’t stop until I pretended to pass out.”
Prosecutor Eric Smith says even more disturbing is the fact that the victim’s small child was home at the time.
“He was brutally attacking his victim, who was his landlord, and then waits for an Uber standing right next to the child in the family kitchen,” says Smith.
Remarkably, Tia wasn’t seriously hurt and police were able to quickly start tracking Fountain.
They say he sold the stolen ring at a Detroit pawn shop, then fled to Washington D.C. Soon after, he was arrested by Amtrak security before heading to Florida where he planned to hide out.
Fountain is now locked up at the Macomb County jail facing as much as 15 years behind bars.
