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“It Was Terrifying”: Serial Kidnapper Jailed After Police Rescue Battered Woman From Ohio Garage
“I can’t even count how many times he threatened my life,” said Chloe Jones, 23, who was found by Akron Police in a garage where William Mozingo Jr. allegedly held her.
An Ohio man has been arrested for allegedly holding a woman captive in a garage and violently torturing her for a number of days last month.
William Mozingo Jr. allegedly beat 23-year-old Chloe Jones with a baseball bat, doused her in gasoline, and threatened to light her on fire while holding her against her will for four days inside a garage in Kenmore, Ohio, the Akron Police Department said, Fox News reported.
Mozingo, 33, was arrested on October 16 when officers stormed the shed and rescued Jones from captivity.
Dramatic body camera footage of her rescue, obtained by Oxygen.com, shows Akron police demanding Mozingo exit the garage with his hands up. After arresting Mozingo, officers could be seen entering the garage where they located Jones, who was in a partially obscured hole in the ceiling. She later climbed down a ladder to safety.
What did William Mozingo Jr. say as he was arrested for Chloe Jones' kidnapping?
As officers hauled Mozingo off in handcuffs, the heavily tattooed man could be heard saying, “I love you, Chloe,” according to body camera footage of the incident.
What happened to Chloe Jones during captivity?
Jones was subsequently hospitalized for three days with facial fractures, a brain bleed, and broken arm and fingers, her family said on GoFundMe. Body camera footage showed serious bruising to the woman’s face and eyes. "It's a heinous, tragic, unfortunate thing for someone to go through," Akron PD spokesman Captain Michael Miller said, Cleveland television station WKYC reported.
"It really shows the depravity and the lengths people go through to really harm somebody, especially when they are intent on doing so," Miller added. "Her injuries were pretty significant, and we're fortunate that we were able to intersect that and just prevent that victimization from continuing."
Authorities say Jones knew Mozingo, but noted the two weren’t close. They suspect she ended up at the garage when Mozingo allegedly abducted her after offering her a ride home. She was held captive in the garage until the garage’s owner tipped off law enforcement.
Jones has since publicly addressed the ordeal.
What did Chloe Jones say about her alleged abduction?
“It was terrifying,” she said, Fox reported. “Being in fear of your life countless times, I can’t even count how many times he threatened my life.”
What did Chloe Jones think about while focusing on surviving her alleged kidnapping?
The young mother said she survived by thinking about her son. “I thought about him every day,” Jones added. I just saw his face in my head every day.”
Jones’ loved ones detailed the extent of the abuse in horrific detail following the attack.
“I saw this person that I didn’t recognize,” Jessi Barham, Jones’ mother, told WEWS-TV of her daughter’s injuries. “Her face was twice its normal size.”
She said both of Jones’ eyes were swollen shut in the aftermath of the incident. Barham also claimed Mozingo “cuddled” her daughter “in between beatings.”
“He doused her in gasoline and was threatening to catch her on fire,” Barham said.
Mozingo is being held at a Summit County detention center on a $100,000 bond, according to online jail records obtained by Oxygen.com. It’s unclear if he’s retained legal representation to comment on his behalf.
Mozingo has a prior history of kidnapping, according to court records, CBS affiliate WOIO reported. He was charged and sentenced to prison on abduction charges in 2011, 2014 and 2019. In the 2019 incident, he kidnapped an ex-girlfriend and later violently attacked her at a property in Canton, Ohio, according to Fox. Mozingo also held a woman at knifepoint in a Walmart restroom in 2017, per court documents. He has past drug convictions as well.
Mozingo was released from Lorain Correctional Institution in April, separate state prison records show. He was on probation at the time of his recent arrest.
