Police: Kidnapper Tried To Wipe Victim's Phone Of Intimate Photos, Videos
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A parks department worker in Yonkers allegedly used a gun and zip-ties to kidnap someone he knew from a Bronx street.
Prosecutors say they then drove to a place to get intimate photos and videos off a cellphone, reports CBS2's Dave Carlin.
Investigators say the SUV pulled onto Metropolitan Oval near Unionport Road in Parkchester, picking up a victim prosecutors are not naming, and describe only as 30-years-old.
Police say it was a kidnapping with the suspect identified as Yonkers City Parks employee Owen Drain, now in custody and charged by federal authorities with armed kidnapping.
His neighbors were stunned at the Yonkers apartment building where Drain lives with a longtime girlfriend.
"I know his girlfriend," said Lisa LaRosa. "I never would've expected that at all."
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The early evening crime on Nov. 19 included a cross-county drive from the Bronx into Westchester with the victim not only held at gunpoint but also zip-tied.
The destination was a mobile technology store in Yonkers, and prosecutors say the kidnapper's intent was to wipe clean the victim's phone to get rid of intimate photos and videos on the device and in the cloud.
It is near the store that the victim finally escaped the SUV and called police.
No word from investigators if the second man has been found.
Officials with Yonkers Parks Department tell CBS2 Drain is suspended from his work in the shade tree division, reporting to the arborist.
If Drain is convicted on the kidnapping charge, it carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.