Louisville police release video of SWAT rescue of woman hit by car, dragged into apartment

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Louisville Metro Police Department released footage Wednesday of the SWAT rescue of a woman in a domestic violence incident last month.

The video shows the moments SWAT went into the suspected apartment where the victim was located on Sept. 10. Officers responded to a call from witnesses who reported seeing a woman being dragged into an apartment.

Police said surveillance video confirmed what the witnesses reported. It showed Artis Chenault hitting a woman with his vehicle and then dragging her, while "visibly unconscious," into the vehicle and driving away off Rockford Lane and Cane Run Road.

Police later found the pickup truck at an apartment on Shanks Lane about a mile away from the initial incident, where witnesses reported seeing the woman dragged into an apartment.

Neighbors at the scene told police they knew the victim and Chenault were inside his apartment because they heard them arguing as they entered the building, according to the arrest citation. They told police the victim was "topless, very unsteady, and had large knots on her head."

Police served a search warrant and called in SWAT to arrest Chenault and make contact with the woman, who told police that she and Chenault "had a miscommunication" and that "it all happened so fast" that she "did not know why he did it."

"These were life and death consequences that, if we didn't act immediately, life could be in danger. And the officers going through that door, (their lives) were in danger, and they executed it flawlessly," LMPD Sgt. Joel Casse said.

While searching Chenault's apartment, police said they found a loaded gun, a box of ammunition, loose ammunition, two sets of scales, a set of brass knuckles, a large baggie of suspected marijuana, a large quantity of suspected crack cocaine, a small baggie of suspected crack cocaine, a small baggie of multi-colored pills believed to be fentanyl, and a marijuana grinder.

Chenault faces kidnapping, assault, wanton endangerment and drug charges, including trafficking and possession of drug paraphernalia. He pleaded not guilty to those charges in arraignment court on Sept. 11. He was ordered to have no contact with the victim or possess any guns. At last check, Chenault was still being held in Louisville's jail on a $100,000 cash bond.

More Local Crime News:

Louisville police release video of SWAT rescue of woman hit by car, dragged into apartment