Myrtle Beach police arrest 74-year-old man for assaulting woman half his age

A 74-year-old man is in custody and charged with assault and possession of marijuana following an altercation with a woman half his age.

Myrtle Beach police responded to an altercation between the pair in a hotel parking lot at 601 Flagg Street at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. Upon arrival, responding officers said they saw the man had the woman pinned to a truck and was hitting her in the head. Her shirt was torn open and her breasts exposed.

The officers issued a verbal command to "get off of her," but the man, identified as Harris Knox, 74, continued to pummel the woman. Police were able to secure the man's arm and pull him away from the victim, who was described as visibly shaken.

An officer escorted the woman into the hotel at the address to get some clothes and was told by the victim that the altercation started when Knox began making sexual advances toward her earlier in the day. The victim said she had been hanging out with him for about six months when she visited from Charleston.

The victim said Knox made suggestions about them having sexual relations later in the night and that she told him she would think about it. She said the pair argued about it and Knox left and she called friends to come and get her.

Hearing a knock on the door and thinking it was her friends, the victim opened it and Knox forced his way in, according to the police report. The victim said Knox smacked her phone out of her hand when she said she was going to call police and demanded she have sex with him.

Knox then allegedly grabbed the woman's phone and headed toward the truck, so the victim gave chase. According to her statement, she clung to the truck to keep Knox from leaving with her cellphone.

Knox offered a different story, telling police he rented the room for the pair early in the day and awoke from a nap to find $100 missing from his pants and the woman gone.

Knox told police he was out searching for the woman when a friend told him she was back at the hotel. The man said he went back there, knocked on the door and got into an argument over where his money was. He admitted taking the phone, but said he would give it back when he got his $100 back.

The victim denied taking any money from Knox and both denied any sexual activity, insisting they were just friends. EMS was called to the scene, but the victim refused treatment.

The woman at first told officers that Knox tried to physically force himself on her, but recanted and said the advances were only verbal. She also refused to press charges.

However, since officers had witnessed the assault arriving on the scene, Knox was arrested for simple assault. During the arrest, officers found a small plastic baggie containing .6 grams of marijuana, so Knox also faces a possession of marijuana charge.

This story was originally published November 26, 2015 at 4:51 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach police arrest 74-year-old man for assaulting woman half his age."