PARKERSBURG — Reports of soliciting a sex worker brought a Parkersburg man into custody over the weekend.

On two separate occasions, Thomas Patrick Locke, 73, Parkersburg, has allegedly attempted to or paid a woman for sex, according to a criminal complaint filed with the Wood County Magistrate Court.

This past June, a woman told law enforcement Locke had been paying her to have sex with him at his residence, the complaint said.

She said Locke had paid her $40 and gave her two Percocet pills in exchange for her having sex with him. The victim said she declined and when the two entered a residence, Locke grabbed her by the hair and threw her on the ground before striking her in the face around four times with a closed fist, the complaint said.

On a later date, Saturday, Lock was seen trying to solicit a sex worker in the parking lot of a local business on St. Marys Avenue in Parkersburg, the complaint said.

An officer, sitting across the street, saw Locke slowly follow a female through the parking lot, trying to solicit her for prostitution, the complaint said.

“The female was very irate at the vehicle and started yelling and cursing and telling him to leave her alone,” the complaint said.

After following Locke through town, the officer pulled him over and Locke denied having been at the local business, according to the complaint.

“Mr. Locke was very upset that (the officer) asked him about prostitution,” the complaint said, and used an excuse which the officer remembered him using the last time he was questioned.

Locke had a large amount of cash in his wallet and when the officer asked if he had enough for a sex worker, Locke said “enough for a couple of girls,” the complaint said.

Locke again denied having talked to the woman in the parking lot and as the officer was gathering information, Locke got out of his vehicle and said “no” when the officer told him to get back inside, the complaint said.

After he tried to get back into his car, Locke was handcuffed and placed in the cruiser. He told the officer he had a firearm in the vehicle and a handgun was found inside along with an unmarked pill bottle in the console with several different pills inside, the complaint said.

He also had a switchblade in the back of the driver’s side door, according to the complaint.

Locke is being charged with domestic battery, two counts of soliciting for prostitution, possession of controlled substance and obstructing an officer and was released on a $2,000 surety bond.

Candice Black can be reached at cblack@newsandsentinel.com.