According to Fort Oglethorpe Detective Dave Scroggins, Victor Lance Bland was staying at the Knight’s Inn hotel at 584 Pine Grove Access Road when he was attacked about 2 a.m. in his room.
Bland received serious injuries, losing a large amount of blood, during the assault, Scroggins said.
A brick recovered at the scene was used in the crime, the detective said.
“He was beat as bad as anyone I’ve ever seen,” Scroggins said. “He was as near death as you can get and not die. Everybody I’ve talked to said he usually carried a substantial amount of cash and we found absolutely none.”
Following his release July 11 from Erlanger Hospital, Bland identified his attacker as David Lee Ferrell, 37, a transient who was recently helping Bland sell frozen meat door-to-door in the Chattanooga area.
Bland, who had been staying at the hotel since about June 21, is believed to have met Ferrell, also from Indiana, in the Crossville, Tenn., area prior to coming to Fort Oglethorpe with him, Scroggins said.
“I think that’s where they met up,” he said.
Ferrell is described as a white male in his late 30s or early 40s, about 5 feet, 10 inches tall, and weighing between 140 and 160 pounds. The suspect has short, dark hair, goatee, and tattoo, possibly of a scorpion, on the biceps area of one arm.
After attacking and robbing Bland, the suspect fled in Bland’s maroon 1989 Camaro with Tennessee license number DZG368. The car has a decorative tag on the front with a rose and the words “Blood bought,” the detective said.
Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to contact Detective Dave Scroggins at the Fort Oglethorpe Police Department at (706) 866-2544, ext. 224
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