2023-08-03 01:23:14
A “violent sexual assault offender” accused of holding a kidnapped woman captive in a makeshift cinder block cell in her Oregon garage may have other victims, the FBI said Wednesday.
Negasi Zuberi, a 29-year-old who uses the aliases “Sakima”, “Justin Hyche” and “Justin Kouassi”, was arrested on July 16 following the woman escaped and was able to call for help.
He has been linked to four violent sexual assaults in at least four states, authorities said, without specifying the locations.
He has been indicted on one count of interstate kidnapping.
Authorities targeted Zuberi a day following he traveled from his home in Klamath Falls, Oregon, to Seattle, Washington, where he solicited a prostitute and kidnapped her, the FBI’s Portland Field Office said in a Press release on Wednesday.
He posed as an undercover police officer, flashing a badge, pointing a taser and handcuffing the woman, before putting her in the back seat of his car, according to the criminal complaint.
“He then traveled approximately 450 miles with the woman, sexually assaulting her along the way,” the FBI statement said.
Once at her home, he put her in a makeshift cell he built in his cinder block garage with a metal door that mightn’t be opened from the inside, authorities said.
FIGHTING TO GET OUT
The victim “slept briefly and awoke to the realization that she would likely die if she did not attempt to escape,” the criminal complaint says.
She began to struggle to get out and “repeatedly banged on the door” until it opened. Outside, she flagged down a passing motorist and called 911.
“This woman was kidnapped, chained, sexually assaulted, and locked in a cinder block cell. Police say she pounded on the door with her hands until they bled so she might free herself,” said Deputy Special Agent in Charge Stephanie Shark of the FBI Portland field office.
The Klamath Falls Police Department obtained a search warrant for Zuberi’s home and found the cell as described by the victim.
Investigators also found blood on a wooden fence the victim had climbed to escape and her bag next to the makeshift cell, according to the criminal complaint.
Inside the home, police also recovered handwritten notes, including one reading “Operation Takeover” with the bullet points “leave your phone at home” and “make sure you don’t have a bunch of people in your life.” . You don’t want any kind of investigation,” the complaint said.
An expert explains how to spot signs of domestic violence.
Zuberi fled and was eventually found in Reno, Nevada, on July 16, with his family.
He was in a car, holding one of his children in the front seat, talking to his wife who was outside the car in a Walmart parking lot when officials located him last month.
“He refused to get out of the vehicle and cut himself with a sharp object which caused him to bleed profusely. He also attempted to destroy his phone,” the complaint states. The boy was uninjured, according to the document.
After a 45-minute standoff, he was taken into custody.
He has been indicted on one count of interstate kidnapping, which carries a maximum sentence of up to life in federal prison.
The search report in Washoe County, Nevada, shows additional charges of false imprisonment, child neglect, false imprisonment with the victim as a shield, fugitive from another state, and assault with a deadly weapon.
Zuberi appeared in federal court in Nevada on July 26, and the US marshals are in the process of transferring him to Oregon, where he will appear in court in the coming weeks, Assistant US Attorney for the District of Oregon Nathan Lichvarcik said. at a press conference on Wednesday.
Zuberi does not yet have an attorney listed.
OTHER POTENTIAL VICTIMS
Authorities are urging any other potential victims to come forward.
Shark said Zuberi has been linked to four additional violent sexual assaults in at least four states, though he did not disclose where those cases were.
He noted that Zuberi had been living in Oregon for several months prior to the alleged kidnapping.
Zuberi has lived in 12 states — California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Utah, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois, Alabama and Nevada — for the past decade, the FBI said. Authorities said he may have used various methods to attack the victims, including drugs and impersonating a police officer.
The FBI launched a research website where potential victims or others with information related to the case can fill out a form to provide more information.
Salvadoran migrant denounces kidnapping and torture.
“Some of the encounters may have been filmed to make it appear as if the assault was consensual,” the page noted. “Victims are threatened with retaliation if they notify the police.”
Shark praised the courage of the victim who broke free from the cell, saying: “Her quick thinking and will to survive may have saved other women from a similar nightmare.”
Public records show a domestic violence restraining order filed in July 2020 once morest Justin Kouassi, one of the aliases provided by the FBI. The public record shows a filing from Contra Costa County, but it’s unclear if an outcome was reached in the case.
A phone call from the woman named in the petition was not immediately returned to NBC News on Wednesday.
This story first appeared in NBCNews.com.
1691037081
#Kidnapped #Woman #Escapes #Cell #Oregon #NBC #Utah
