An East Ridge man claims he has been bilked out of thousands of dollars in a fraudulent scheme to obtain a $50 billion “Mega Millions” lottery payout.

According to a police report, the man recently spoke with police reporting that he had received a phone call in September of 2015 from an unknown party stating that he had won $50 billion (yes, “billion” with a “b”). In order to collect the winnings he was asked to send various amounts to an unknown bank in Jamaica. 

According to the report, the victim told police that over the course of two years, the man had sent more than $100,000 to “representatives” of different companies overseas and the United States under the assumption that if he paid the amount they were asking he would receive the $50 billion prize.

The victim told police that he had numerous text messages and phone numbers from the “representatives” who have contacted him in the past. 

According to the report, the victim told police that he voluntarily sent the money because he needed the $50 billion to invest in his company. 

_ East Ridge police have issued warrants for the arrest of a man who allegedly held his ex-girlfriend against her will and repeatedly assaulted her.

According to a police report, on Friday night officers were dispatched to the emergency waiting area of Erlanger East Hospital on Gunbarrel Road in reference to an assault. When police arrived they spoke with a woman who said that the night before her ex-boyfriend, Ivan DeShawn Newsom, had assaulted her at her home on Camp Jordan Road after she had asked him to move out of the residence.

The victim told police that the man pushed her down on the floor, pinned her arms with his knees while sitting on her chest and began to strangle the woman. She said that after a few minutes Newsom got off her but the couple continued to argue. The woman told police that over the next few hours Newsom would become agitated and assault her again. The woman said she tried to leave the house several times but Newsom would stop her.

According to the report, the woman told police that she was able to get out of the house where she ran to her vehicle. However, she fell down and Newsom allegedly wrestled with her outside for 15 minutes before dragging her by hair back inside the house. 

The report goes on to say that the woman and Newsom left the house at 1 a.m. on Friday, got into a car and Newsom drove them around East Ridge and Chattanooga. The woman told police that Newsom stopped in the parking lot of WalMart on Gunbarrel Road at 2 a.m. After parking, the woman told officers that Newsom fell asleep and the woman got out of the car, went inside the store and called a friend to come and get her.

The report states that the woman went to the friend’s house before going to the hospital for treatment of her wounds.

The report states that at the hospital police observed extensive bruising and scraped on both of the victim’s arms and hands, as well as a bite mark on her left triceps muscle. She also had a large scrape on the right side of her face and bruising and scratch marks on her neck.

Warrants were issued for Newsom on charges of Aggravated Domestic Assault, False Imprisonment and Aggravated Kidnapping.