Police said Friday that 40-year-old Joshua Woodward (pictured above, on left), a restaurant investor with posh establishments in New York, Miami and Los Angeles, was released after posting bail following an arrest on four charges of attempted murder.

Authorities claim they caught Woodward carrying the drug misoprostol, which his girlfriend says he gave her multiple times in an effort to induce a miscarriage. Bail was set at $4 million, and The Los Angeles Times said Woodward could face a life sentence if he’s convicted.

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Prosecutors said in court filings that Woodward begged his girlfriend to terminate the pregnancy, but when she refused he began researching ways to force a miscarriage. He allegedly settled on misoprostol because it is used in conjunction with another drug in early-term abortions.

He’s accused of administering it to his girlfriend first in a drink, then vaginally, which she claims to have later discovered before having a miscarriage. When authorities asked her to invite Woodward over again and pretend nothing happened, she agreed. Police say that once he arrived, they caught him in possession of another dose of the drug and he was arrested on the spot.

This video is from KTLA in Los Angeles, broadcast Thursday, October 18, 2012.



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Photo: Screenshot via KTLA.