Less than one month after jail release on bond, man accused of critically injuring girlfriend

Less than one month after Samuel Basham was released from jail on a surety bond, his girlfriend was on life support Wednesday, and Basham stands accused in her assault.

Police arrested Basham in September after a neighbor said he chased him with a knife. That charge was ultimately dismissed but while Basham was in the Warren County Regional Jail, he picked up an additional felony charge of assault on a corrections officer, according to Warren Circuit Court records.

Warren Circuit Court Judge John Grise set Basham’s bond at $2,000 surety, meaning he didn’t have to come up with any cash, and he was released from jail Oct. 25, records show.

Wednesday morning, he was arrested again and charged with fourth-degree assault on his girlfriend after police were called to a disturbance at his home on Butler Way, according to an arrest citation. Basham’s girlfriend told police he struck her face and head with his closed fist more than 10 times.

She was taken to a local hospital where she flatlined while being treated, was placed on life support and flown to a Nashville trauma center, according to his arrest citation. Her brain shifted due to a brain bleed “likely caused by blunt force trauma,” Basham’s arrest citation reads.

At 1:25 p.m. Bowling Green police upgraded the charge on Basham from a misdemeanor assault to a first-degree felony assault.

He is once again lodged in the Warren County Regional Jail.