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Four Charged After Florida Woman Held Captive in Dog Cage Escaped and Begged for Help
The Orange County Sheriff's Office responded to an incident "regarding a woman in her 40s who knocked on a door pleading for help and saying she had been held against her will at a nearby property."
Four suspects have been charged after a woman who said she was held captive in a dog cage in Central Florida managed to escape, and then banged on the door of a nearby home begging for help.
Monica Latresis Reed, 37, Damon Andrew Tromp, 19, Kevin Rudolph Homes, 21, and Cortez Marenzo Bernard Jackson, 39, have all been arrested and charged with armed kidnapping with intent to commit a felony, and false imprisonment with a weapon, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
Reed was also hit with a third charge of aggravated battery with a firearm for pistol whipping the victim.
On August 12, at around 2:10 p.m., deputies responded to Barnett Place in Pine Hills, an unincorporated Orange County area near Orlando, "regarding a woman in her 40s who knocked on a door pleading for help and saying she had been held against her will at a nearby property and had just gotten away," the sheriff's office told Oxygen.com. "When deputies made contact with her, she had minor injuries."
The four suspects were arrested after a six-hour standoff with police, according to Fox 35 Orlando.
According to an arrest affidavit obtained by Oxygen.com, the defendants "did forcibly confine, abduct or imprison the victim against their will by for the purpose of inflicting bodily harm or terrorizing the victim." The affidavit adds that the victim's hands were tied together and that she was forced into a vehicle by the defendants under "the threat of a firearm."
The affidavit also states that the suspects transported the victim to another location by force, and that this was done so that they could "obtain information from the victim, namely the victim's address, in regard to a potential stolen item."
The victim was threatened, confined, abducted and restrained against her will, according to the affidavit. A cord was used to tie her hands so that she could be taken away in a vehicle, authorities stated.
After the suspects reached their destination, they allegedly further restrained the victim by "duct taping her hand and feet together, as well as taped the victim's mouth closed." Additionally, the victim was physically restrained in the vehicle after she tried to escape, according to the arrest affidavit.
The victim was allegedly held captive in a dog cage inside a shed in Reed's backyard, according to the affidavit.
Reed is also accused of striking the victim with a gun, "causing a laceration to the victim's cheek."
"The manner in which the firearm was used could have caused great bodily harm or permanent disfigurement," the affidavit states.
The victim is expected to recover, according to a Facebook post by the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
