Boise man charged with attempted murder in attack at I-84 rest area in East Idaho

A Boise man has been charged with attempted murder for allegedly strangling and beating a woman at an Interstate 84 rest area in Cassia County last week.

Michael Ray Ramsey, 39, is also charged with felony counts of battery with the intent to commit a serious felony, unlawful possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, drug trafficking in methamphetamine and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

Court records show that the Cassia County Sheriff’s Office was called last Thursday to a westbound I-84 rest area at milepost 229, east of Burley and not far from the interchange with Interstate 86 in southeast Idaho. Deputies said that when they arrived, they found a woman in the driver’s seat of a red Tesla with both fresh and dried blood on her face, and bruising and swelling on her neck, forehead and around one eye.

Clumps of the woman’s hair were found outside the vehicle and in the passenger’s seat, authorities said.

The woman told officers that she was traveling from Salt Lake City to Idaho when she began having trouble with her vehicle’s battery. The woman said she had a phone conversation with Ramsey and told him about the vehicle trouble. He told her he was concerned for her safety, and she told deputies that she indicated to Ramsey she would meet him in Twin Falls.

The woman said Ramsey instead showed up at the rest stop in a silver GMC SUV with a passenger in his vehicle. Ramsey got into the Tesla on the passenger’s side and began talking to the woman before he grabbed her by the neck and began strangling her, she said. He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her to the passenger’s seat, where he continued to strangle her and began striking her in the face, according to court records.

The woman said he also put his hand over her nose and mouth while applying pressure around her neck. She told deputies that her vision blurred but she did not pass out. She was able kick open the driver’s door and get away, she said.

At that point, Ramsey got out of the vehicle, went back to his SUV and drove away.

The woman got back into her vehicle and called 911.

She also found that Ramsey had dropped his phone in her car, according to court records, and she was able to unlock it and find a text conversation in which Ramsey said he was going to put her in a dumpster.

The woman said he’d previously made a statement about “dumping her at the dairy.”

Idaho State Police said they found Ramsey in Jerome, and troopers reported finding a 9 mm handgun, 216 grams of a white substance and six used drug-smoking devices in his SUV.

A preliminary hearing for Ramsey is set for Friday in Cassia County Magistrate Court.