Virginia man arrested for duct taping his wife to chair during Sunday Night Football game released on $20,000 bond

A Virginia man has gone viral after he was arrested for allegedly duct-taping his wife to a chair and locking her in a basement while he watched Sunday Night Football.  

Terry Ward, 64, has been charged with felony abduction and assault for allegedly strapping his wife to a chair with duct tape and keeping her restrained in their Richmond, Virginia home for 30 to 45 minutes on October 11. The story blew up online after a page known as Virginia Statewide Incidents posted about the arrest, saying that he tied her up so he could watch football.  

The police were called to the scene of the couple's $675,000 home at 11:30 pm and spoke to Ward's wife. She told authorities that she had been strapped to the chair with duct tape in the basement. Officers noted in the police report that she had tape residue on her arms.  

Ward told police “that he did indeed tie his wife … to a chair and place her down in the basement,” police wrote in the report. The Richmond Police, however, could not confirm if he was watching football. The call to police did come during the time of the Baltimore Ravens-Atlanta Falcons game.  

According to the New York Post, Ward is a graduate of West Point and was in the Middle East for Desert Storm. He received a Bronze Star. Ward is also the father of two children. After he was arrested, he posted a $20,000 bond the next day. He was ordered by authorities to stay 1,000 feet away from their home on Maplewood Avenue. He has also been told not to leave Virginia and has to submit to drug testing.