Man holds girlfriend in shed for 2 weeks, sexually assaults her, AZ officials say

A man was arrested after he was accused of sexually assaulting his girlfriend while holding her captive, Arizona officials said.

On July 2, a woman called 911 to report that her boyfriend, 36-year-old Timothy James Wood, had been holding her captive, according to a probable cause statement by the Superior Court of Maricopa County.

After she was evicted, the woman met Wood and they started dating, documents said. They then moved into a shed in the backyard of a Phoenix home belonging to Wood’s father, according to the probable cause statement.

The woman told officers she’d been held captive for two weeks and was only allowed to go into the main house with Wood, officials said.

He forced her to wear makeup to hide the extent of her injuries and sexually assaulted her, striking her with an electrical cord if she refused, according to the probable cause statement.

Wood threatened to cut her foot off with a saw and threatened to kill her if she called the police, officials said.

The woman told officers Wood had knelt on her neck, making it hard to breathe, officials said.

Wood also created a crawl space at the foot of the bed where he buried the woman for two days, officials said.

The woman escaped when she learned the back door was unlocked and ran to a neighbor’s home for help, according to the probable cause statement.

She had facial swelling, bruising, bite marks on her shoulder and marks on her knee that resembled being whipped, officials said.

Wood was detained at the main home and arrested on charges of sexual assault, kidnapping, aggravated assault, unlawful imprisonment and threatening to harm someone, among other charges.

This story was originally published July 8, 2025 at 4:25 PM with the headline "Man holds girlfriend in shed for 2 weeks, sexually assaults her, AZ officials say."