Philadelphia woman violently abducted off street found alive in Maryland
Less than 72 hours after being violently snatched off a Philadelphia street as she walked home from visiting her godson, Carlesha Freeland-Gaither has been rescued from the "vicious predator" police say kidnapped her.
Now as she recovers from the attack that was caught on video, the focus moves onto her alleged abductor who authorities have linked to a similar crime against a teenage girl.
"I’m taking my baby home. Thank you," Keisha Gaither, the woman's overjoyed mother, told the public at a news conference Wednesday night. Her family erupted into applause as the woman spoke.
The 22-year-old was rescued from the car of her alleged kidnapper, 37-year-old Delvin Barnes, in a Jessup, Maryland parking lot Wednesday afternoon, officials said. She suffered some injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital in Columbia, Maryland for treatment, police said. She's listed in good condition and expected to recover.
“It’s very special for all of us. You hope, you hope, you hope, but you don't really know until you're actually able to get her, and make sure she's OK. So it's very important that this has a happy ending," Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said.
Agents moved in quickly after receiving a tip from the ATF Office in Richmond, Virginia that Barnes may be the suspect after seeing his picture in news reports, Philadelphia detectives said.
They began tracking his gray Ford Taurus through a GPS device placed inside the vehicle by the car dealership where it was purchased, detectives said. The GPS was installed because Barnes had poor credit, officials said.
Agents honed in on his location, in a shopping center parking lot, and moved in to strike.
"He was more surprised than anything," ATF agent Tim Jones said recounting the arrest.
Barnes and the victim were in the backseat of the car when agents arrived, but he quickly jumped into the driver's seat to try and flee, Jones said. Agents blocked his way and took him into custody.
Freeland-Gaither screamed hysterically for help as the arrest was taking place, telling the agents she was the woman who had been abducted in Philadelphia, Jones said.
"Once she had time to process what had happened you could tell she was emotionally distraught," he said.
Barnes, who has ties to Philadelphia, apparently attacked Freeland-Gaither at random, detectives said. He is being held on an warrant for attempted murder out of Charles City County, Virginia for an attack on a 16-year-old girl a month ago.
"He’s a thug and this is what he does apparently," Ramsey said of the alleged abductor. “He’s a vicious predator. He’s off the streets."
Barnes will be charged federally in the alleged kidnapping and assault, said Edward Hanko, special agent-in-charge of the FBI's Philadelphia division. Officials said many times that the investigation remained fluid and had a long way to go.
Freeland-Gaither's rescue puts an end to three intense days of searching by Philadelphia Police, the FBI and her family.
The nursing aide was grabbed as she walked along Greene Street near W. Coulter Street in the city's Germantown section at 9:40 p.m. Sunday as she walked home from a visit to see her godson. She was forced down the street and into a car. The woman struggled to get away, fighting her attacker and breaking out the window of the car. But she couldn't escape -- her glasses and smartphone left on the sidewalk.
The entire ordeal was caught on surveillance video and widely shared.
An intense manhunt ensued with the search quickly expanding from Northwest Philadelphia to Aberdeen, Maryland, where Freeland-Gaither's ATM card was used early Monday morning.
Her family made tearful pleas for the woman's safe return and continued posting missing posters through Wednesday, never giving up hope.
Detectives got a break in the case from a woman living in Havre De Grace, Maryland. A woman found a bag of trash in her driveway that included a receipt from an ACME supermarket in Northeast Philadelphia, a bag of Herr's potato chips and shattered glass.
The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, told NBC10 that she initially thought it was just trash, but later called authorities after hearing about the case.
Investigators were able to use the receipt to hone in on the supermarket gather surveillance video of Barnes, detectives said.
Officials thanked the public for helping to move along the investigation.
"We worked tirelessly, around the clock, investigated every lead that we had, and we really appreciate the public coming forward giving us a hand, giving us all the information that we were able to sit there and work on," Philadelphia Police Northwest Detective Division Capt. James Smith said.
Barnes has a long history with the law.
Philadelphia Police arrested the man in November 2005 on a slew of charges including rape, burglary, aggravated assault, making terroristic threats and reckless endangerment, according to court documents.
Police reports obtained by NBC10 stated Barnes beat, sexually assaulted and held his estranged wife captive -- defying a protection from abuse order. The woman is also the mother of his child, family said.
He jumped from the woman's closet, grabbed her by the face and dug his nails into her skin, according to the reports. He held her in the home overnight and allegedly forced her to have sex with him, the police report states.
The woman's parents found them both when they went to check on their daughter. Barnes then began to beat them before they were able to escape and call police, according to the reports.
Barnes was found guilty of aggravated assault, criminal trespassing, false imprisonment and related charges, the documents show.
Lamar Barnes, the man's uncle, told NBC10 Wednesday night that his nephew recently was released from prison. He said the man is the son of a minister and that he's had trouble with women in the past.
“It’s just hard for me to accept the viciousness of it, not necessarily surprised. You know some men grow up having problems with women so they take it out on women. Apparently he’s one of them," Lamar Barnes said.
The uncle said he's glad to hear that Freeland-Gaither is safe and that Delvin's parents are "devastated" by the allegations.
"If he’s somebody I didn’t know, I would say whatever they do to him is fine. Well, he’s my nephew, same thing. What am I gonna do," he said.
Two weeks ago, officials in Virginia dropped charges against Barnes. According to court records, he was arrested in July for making a bomb threat, which is a felony. That charge was amended to trespassing, a misdemeanor, and the case finally dropped on Oct. 24, the records show.
Four days later, sheriffs in Charles City County, Virginia linked Barnes to the abduction, rape and torture of a 16-year-old girl.
Authorities said the girl went missing on Oct. 1 and showed up two days later at a business. She naked, bloody and covered in burns smelling of bleach and gasoline, officials said.
DNA tests came back as a match to Barnes on Oct. 28, officials said. A warrant was issued and he was charged with attempted capital murder, abduction, forcible rape, malicious wounding, malicious injury with acid, explosives or fire and intimate object penetration, authorities said.
A Philadelphia Police caravan left the city late Wednesday carrying about 15 members of Freeland-Gaither's family to the hospital for a reunion with the victim. They plan to bring her back to Philadelphia overnight, if she can be released from the hospital, and let the healing begin.
"Thank you so much for having us in your prayers, thank you for keeping me up. Thank you for being there for us," Keisha Gaither said.
full story here
thought we could use some good news in light of the disastrous election results from yesterday....though OTOH, it's pretty awful that this guy was allowed out on the street with everything else on his record.
also mods - I don't see a tag for abduction/kidnapping. could we get one, perhaps?
Now as she recovers from the attack that was caught on video, the focus moves onto her alleged abductor who authorities have linked to a similar crime against a teenage girl.
"I’m taking my baby home. Thank you," Keisha Gaither, the woman's overjoyed mother, told the public at a news conference Wednesday night. Her family erupted into applause as the woman spoke.
The 22-year-old was rescued from the car of her alleged kidnapper, 37-year-old Delvin Barnes, in a Jessup, Maryland parking lot Wednesday afternoon, officials said. She suffered some injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital in Columbia, Maryland for treatment, police said. She's listed in good condition and expected to recover.
“It’s very special for all of us. You hope, you hope, you hope, but you don't really know until you're actually able to get her, and make sure she's OK. So it's very important that this has a happy ending," Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said.
Agents moved in quickly after receiving a tip from the ATF Office in Richmond, Virginia that Barnes may be the suspect after seeing his picture in news reports, Philadelphia detectives said.
They began tracking his gray Ford Taurus through a GPS device placed inside the vehicle by the car dealership where it was purchased, detectives said. The GPS was installed because Barnes had poor credit, officials said.
Agents honed in on his location, in a shopping center parking lot, and moved in to strike.
"He was more surprised than anything," ATF agent Tim Jones said recounting the arrest.
Barnes and the victim were in the backseat of the car when agents arrived, but he quickly jumped into the driver's seat to try and flee, Jones said. Agents blocked his way and took him into custody.
Freeland-Gaither screamed hysterically for help as the arrest was taking place, telling the agents she was the woman who had been abducted in Philadelphia, Jones said.
"Once she had time to process what had happened you could tell she was emotionally distraught," he said.
Barnes, who has ties to Philadelphia, apparently attacked Freeland-Gaither at random, detectives said. He is being held on an warrant for attempted murder out of Charles City County, Virginia for an attack on a 16-year-old girl a month ago.
"He’s a thug and this is what he does apparently," Ramsey said of the alleged abductor. “He’s a vicious predator. He’s off the streets."
Barnes will be charged federally in the alleged kidnapping and assault, said Edward Hanko, special agent-in-charge of the FBI's Philadelphia division. Officials said many times that the investigation remained fluid and had a long way to go.
Freeland-Gaither's rescue puts an end to three intense days of searching by Philadelphia Police, the FBI and her family.
The nursing aide was grabbed as she walked along Greene Street near W. Coulter Street in the city's Germantown section at 9:40 p.m. Sunday as she walked home from a visit to see her godson. She was forced down the street and into a car. The woman struggled to get away, fighting her attacker and breaking out the window of the car. But she couldn't escape -- her glasses and smartphone left on the sidewalk.
The entire ordeal was caught on surveillance video and widely shared.
An intense manhunt ensued with the search quickly expanding from Northwest Philadelphia to Aberdeen, Maryland, where Freeland-Gaither's ATM card was used early Monday morning.
Her family made tearful pleas for the woman's safe return and continued posting missing posters through Wednesday, never giving up hope.
Detectives got a break in the case from a woman living in Havre De Grace, Maryland. A woman found a bag of trash in her driveway that included a receipt from an ACME supermarket in Northeast Philadelphia, a bag of Herr's potato chips and shattered glass.
The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, told NBC10 that she initially thought it was just trash, but later called authorities after hearing about the case.
Investigators were able to use the receipt to hone in on the supermarket gather surveillance video of Barnes, detectives said.
Officials thanked the public for helping to move along the investigation.
"We worked tirelessly, around the clock, investigated every lead that we had, and we really appreciate the public coming forward giving us a hand, giving us all the information that we were able to sit there and work on," Philadelphia Police Northwest Detective Division Capt. James Smith said.
Barnes has a long history with the law.
Philadelphia Police arrested the man in November 2005 on a slew of charges including rape, burglary, aggravated assault, making terroristic threats and reckless endangerment, according to court documents.
Police reports obtained by NBC10 stated Barnes beat, sexually assaulted and held his estranged wife captive -- defying a protection from abuse order. The woman is also the mother of his child, family said.
He jumped from the woman's closet, grabbed her by the face and dug his nails into her skin, according to the reports. He held her in the home overnight and allegedly forced her to have sex with him, the police report states.
The woman's parents found them both when they went to check on their daughter. Barnes then began to beat them before they were able to escape and call police, according to the reports.
Barnes was found guilty of aggravated assault, criminal trespassing, false imprisonment and related charges, the documents show.
Lamar Barnes, the man's uncle, told NBC10 Wednesday night that his nephew recently was released from prison. He said the man is the son of a minister and that he's had trouble with women in the past.
“It’s just hard for me to accept the viciousness of it, not necessarily surprised. You know some men grow up having problems with women so they take it out on women. Apparently he’s one of them," Lamar Barnes said.
The uncle said he's glad to hear that Freeland-Gaither is safe and that Delvin's parents are "devastated" by the allegations.
"If he’s somebody I didn’t know, I would say whatever they do to him is fine. Well, he’s my nephew, same thing. What am I gonna do," he said.
Two weeks ago, officials in Virginia dropped charges against Barnes. According to court records, he was arrested in July for making a bomb threat, which is a felony. That charge was amended to trespassing, a misdemeanor, and the case finally dropped on Oct. 24, the records show.
Four days later, sheriffs in Charles City County, Virginia linked Barnes to the abduction, rape and torture of a 16-year-old girl.
Authorities said the girl went missing on Oct. 1 and showed up two days later at a business. She naked, bloody and covered in burns smelling of bleach and gasoline, officials said.
DNA tests came back as a match to Barnes on Oct. 28, officials said. A warrant was issued and he was charged with attempted capital murder, abduction, forcible rape, malicious wounding, malicious injury with acid, explosives or fire and intimate object penetration, authorities said.
A Philadelphia Police caravan left the city late Wednesday carrying about 15 members of Freeland-Gaither's family to the hospital for a reunion with the victim. They plan to bring her back to Philadelphia overnight, if she can be released from the hospital, and let the healing begin.
"Thank you so much for having us in your prayers, thank you for keeping me up. Thank you for being there for us," Keisha Gaither said.
full story here
thought we could use some good news in light of the disastrous election results from yesterday....though OTOH, it's pretty awful that this guy was allowed out on the street with everything else on his record.
also mods - I don't see a tag for abduction/kidnapping. could we get one, perhaps?