NEW YORK – A man and a woman are in custody after allegedly kidnapping and assaulting an Italian tourist inside a Lower Manhattan apartment.
What happened?
According to the NYPD, the 28-year-old male tourist managed to escape after being held for more than a week.
He flagged down an on-duty traffic agent and told the officer he had been assaulted and held against his will.
Police arrested 37-year-old John Woeltz at his apartment on Prince Street in the Soho neighborhood on Friday morning.
He was barefoot with a robe on at the time.
What we know:
Officers responded to the address around 10 a.m., and witnesses described a dramatic scene as police, SWAT teams, and emergency vehicles swarmed the area.
Cell phone footage showed Woeltz being led out of the townhouse barefoot and wearing a bathrobe.
He appeared calm and did not respond to questions from reporters.
Woeltz has been charged with two counts of second-degree assault, one count of kidnapping, and one count of unlawful imprisonment.
A second suspect, 24-year-old Beatrice Folchi, was also arrested in connection with the case. Police say she lives on West 21st Street in Manhattan. She is charged with first-degree kidnapping and first-degree unlawful imprisonment.
NYPD sources say he is a crypto entrepreneur.
He has retained legal counsel and has been transferred to a holding facility while awaiting arraignment.
What we don’t know:
The victim’s identity has not been released, and police have not provided further details about the nature of the injuries or the alleged assault.
The investigation is ongoing.
He was charged with two counts of second-degree assault and unlawful imprisonment.
The Source: Information for this article was taken from reporting by FOX 5 New York’s Linda Schmidt and Duarte Geraldino.
