GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — When Jeffrey Groves was arrested this week, following a wild car chase across the Twin Cities and a crash in Hudson, Wisconsin, not everyone was shocked.
"It really didn't surprise me when I saw the picture and heard the news," said Jeff Lillemoe. "It's just sad."
Nine years before Groves was arrested on charges of burglary, sexual assault and kidnapping of an elderly woman, Lillemoe filed a restraining order against him.
"I didn't want him coming after me or anything," Lillemoe said. "I was afraid for my safety."
Lillemoe says his concern grew after the way Groves treated one of his female friends.
"She was actually dating (Groves) and they broke up. The mood swings were horrible," he said. "It's pretty scary when you have to make sure all your doors and windows are locked so somebody doesn't break in."
He says both he and Grove's ex managed to avoid physical violence, but Groves criminal history before and after that time is lengthy. He has many convictions for assault, burglary, domestic abuse and violations of protection orders against multiple women.
"It was the same M.O., getting money out of them and then disappearing and then coming back and causing havoc with them," Groves said.
And the havoc continued this week because despite Groves violent history, multiple probation violations, and a guilty plea this summer; he was out on bond and skipped a court hearing.
"I don't understand how, if somebody has got this much of a record, why they keep getting let go?" Lillemoe said. "The next time, if it happens again, there might be a death. I don't know."
Groves is now in custody. On Monday he's scheduled to appear in court to face his latest charges.
