Police: Wrestling coach attacks ex-girlfriend, man with hammer

MONROE, N.C. — A Union County wrestling coach was relieved of his duties after police said he attacked his former girlfriend and another man with a hammer in a jealous rage.
 
Monroe police arrested James "Scooter" Marlow on July 25 on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, communicating threats and injury to property.
 
Authorities said Marlow is a self-employed electrician but also worked part-time as the wrestling coach for high school and middle school students at Union Academy in Monroe.
 
Police said Marlow's ex-girlfriend, Kathy Palmer, called 911 on July 19 after she reported seeing Marlow following her into the parking lot of the Monroe Crossings Mall.
 
Palmer, who was with her new boyfriend, told dispatchers she tried to drive away from Marlow but he followed her car.
 
"He's done run me up and down the road on (Highway) 74 -- told us to pull over, he's going to kill both of us," Palmer said in the 911 call. "I can't stop because if I do, he's going to (expletive) act crazy."
 
Palmer told Channel 9 she drove back to the mall parking lot hoping to find a safe place but said when she parked, Marlow got out of his truck with a hammer and began smashing her windshield.
 
Police said Marlow then turned and attacked Palmer's new boyfriend with the hammer while Palmer was still on the phone with 911 dispatchers.
 
"I need an ambulance! He got hit in the head with a (expletive) hammer!" she said.
 
Palmer can be heard screaming on the call.
 
Palmer said her boyfriend needed 12 staples to close the wound in his head.
 
Police said Marlow fled the scene but he was arrested five days later.
 
An Eyewitness News crew went to Marlow's home on Friday but no one answered the door, and a call to his cellphone was not returned.
 
Marlow is listed on the Union Academy website as the wrestling coach but that webpage was deleted following his arrest.
 
Administrators told Channel 9 he will not be invited back to coach the 2014-15 wrestling season.
 
In a statement, headmaster Ann Walters said, "Scooter Marlow did not work on a day-to-day basis on our campus with students. We are working with law enforcement to help with their investigation in any way."
 
Marlow will face a judge in Union County court on Aug. 12.

WSOC