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Man stabs girlfriend, holds their 4 children hostage over $10 for crack cocaine, police say

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis man was arrested after police said he stabbed his girlfriend and held their children hostage.

According to police, they were called to the house around 3:30 a.m. on Easter Sunday.

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Police said Ernest Owens, 24, asked his girlfriend for $10 for crack cocaine. When she refused, police said he became angry and violent.

Investigators said he grabbed a serrated knife and pressed the tip to the skin of each of their four children. When she tried to stop him, he stabbed her in the leg, according to the Memphis Police Department.

The victim then ran outside and the suspect locked himself inside with his children, court records said.

Police told FOX13 the suspect refused to release the children.

Eventually, police were able to get him out of the house and he was arrested.

FOX13 talked to neighbors who said they were too afraid to go on camera. However, they told FOX13 they had to be evacuated out of their townhouse.

Owens  was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, aggravated child abuse and especially aggravated kidnapping.