Darius Benford Arrested; – A man has been charged with kidnapping and assaulting his former girlfriend while driving around Nashville in 2022. He was arrested this week and is facing serious allegations.
As per an arrest affidavit, officers from the Metro Nashville Police Department responded to a call at the Walmart parking lot located at 4040 Nolensville Pike, where they discovered a woman seated in the back of a security vehicle.
The woman informed the officer that she had recently escaped from her ex-boyfriend, who had abducted her three days earlier from Huntsville, Alabama, according to the affidavit.
Her ex-boyfriend, 37-year-old Darius Benford, had fled the scene prior to the officers’ arrival. The woman reported that Benford had kidnapped her and driven to Nashville without allowing her to exit the vehicle. She stated that they had been driving around for the past three days, even sleeping in the car, as noted in the affidavit.
Benford allegedly used a white 2×4 piece of wood to strike her whenever she attempted to leave the vehicle. He would also hit her randomly while driving, according to her account.
Three days after her abduction, she recounted that they were at Walmart when she managed to push him away and ran towards a security guard, who permitted her to enter his vehicle.
The affidavit indicates that Benford purportedly made several attempts to force the woman out of the vehicle but ultimately abandoned the effort and drove away.
Nearly three years later, detectives located Benford and arrested him on Wednesday, August 27, 2025.
Now 38 years old, he was booked into Davidson County Jail and charged with especially aggravated kidnapping with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and aggravated strangulation. His bond has been set at $100,000.
