Lucky sales call to phone: It leads to rescue of Oregon woman being beaten, choked

LEBANON, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon sheriff says a lucky sales call from a Las Vegas company led deputies to rescue a 33-year-old woman who was being beaten and strangled.

The Albany Democrat-Herald reports that Linn County Sheriff Bruce Riley says the Lebanon, Oregon, victim didn't intentionally answer her phone. It was in her pocket and somehow picked up the sales call Wednesday during the attack. The concerned saleswoman turned to her boss at Americare Health, who tracked down the woman's address from previous sales and contacted Oregon law enforcement officers.

Deputies arrived and arrested the woman's ex-boyfriend. They say the man let her go when they arrived and she ran out the front door.

On Thursday, Walter Warren Ruck of Lebanon was charged in Circuit Court with fourth-degree assault and strangulation, both misdemeanors. He's due back in court Feb. 17.

Lebanon is a small town in western Oregon's Willamette Valley.