BEATRICE, Neb. - A Beatrice man was arrested after multiple vehicle theft reports and an alleged domestic assault early Monday morning.

According to the Beatrice Police Department, officers were dispatched around 6:09 a.m. Monday to the 1600 block of South 9th Street following a report of a motor vehicle theft. The victim told officers that David Barrett forcibly took her vehicle keys and drove away in her black 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

The victim told police Barrett demanded her keys despite not having a valid driver’s license. When she refused, she says Barrett shoved her to the ground multiple times, sat on top of her, and forcibly removed the keys from her hand. The victim said she feared for her safety during the altercation and described Barrett as acting “out of his mind.”

Authorities said the victim and Barrett have been in an intimate relationship for just over a year. 

Later that day, Gage County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a separate report of a motor vehicle theft near Liberty, Nebraska, where a black Jeep had been abandoned and a Pontiac Trans Am was reported stolen from the same residence. Deputies later located the suspect, identified as Barrett, and placed him into custody.

During a search, deputies found an Onity hotel key card on Barrett labeled “Front Lobby.” Investigators believe the key card is connected to a reported theft at the Holiday Inn in Beatrice that occurred around in the early morning hours of December 28. Hotel staff were able to identify the card as part of a stolen master key set, and Barrett had previously been named as a suspect in that incident.

Barrett was lodged at the Gage County Detention Center on multiple theft charges, driving under suspension, robbery, assault-domestic violence, and trespassing.