Man hides in trunk, holds knife to ex-girlfriend as she drives

A man crawled from the trunk, through the backseat to hold a knife to the throat of his ex-girlfriend as she was driving to meet a friend Friday night in Valparaiso, Ind.

The woman, 28, later told Valparaiso police she had been talking on her phone to a friend about a man she had just met shortly before the attack.

Ryan Burns, 25, climbed into the passenger seat about 8:40 p.m. Friday and started quizzing her about the "new guy" and punching her in the face when he said she liked him, according to the police report.

Burns allegedly ordered her to drive where he directed, threatening to kill her and himself if she didn't. The woman instead pulled into the parking lot of Broadway Café on U.S. Route 30. As they fought over the steering wheel, she grabbed his genitals and squeezed as hard as she could, she told police. His reaction gave her time to throw the car keys out the window and scream for help. Burns ran off on foot.

The couple's 3 1/2-year relationship ended in February, 2012, the woman told police. They had been living together and he had been helping her raise her twins, whom she had with Burns' father, so the children were also his siblings.

Police learned the woman has a restraining order against Burns, and she had filed a police report earlier in the day when he allegedly made contact with her at a gas station in Valparaiso. Asked how Burns could have gotten into her car, she showed officers how one of the rear windows can easily be pushed down from outside the vehicle.

The woman said Burns lives with various friends, so police worked with Burns' cell-phone provider to locate him at a home in the 700 block of Capital Road in South Haven. As Porter County Sheriff's police made the arrest at about 1:05 a.m. Saturday, Burns did not speak about the alleged incident.

He was charged with three felonies -- criminal confinement, intimidation and criminal recklessness; and two misdemeanors -- domestic battery and invasion of privacy.