According to police sources, an Italian guy was tortured and imprisoned against his will inside a Manhattan apartment for several weeks before escaping and seeking help.
Police have apprehended one of the alleged kidnappers, John Woeltz, a 37-year-old crypto dealer from Kentucky.
Woeltz faces two counts of assault and one count each of kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, and criminal possession of a handgun.
The 28-year-old victim was able to flee the apartment on the corner of Prince and Mulberry Streets around 10 a.m. Friday morning and flagged down a traffic agent, who promptly notified police, according to a second law enforcement source.
The man informed authorities he met Woeltz through their mutual interest in cryptocurrency. He arrived in the United States on May 6 and went to Woeltz’s apartment, where his passport was confiscated and he was bound and tortured, according to police sources.
Police did not immediately reveal how the victim was tortured, but sources told the Daily News that he was bound with electrical tape and tased.
After the kidnapping was reported, detectives rushed to the Prince St. flat and discovered a handgun and Polaroid photos of the victim being tied up and abused. Woeltz allegedly attempted to extort the individual for millions of dollars in cryptocurrency, according to police sources.
Two other persons were in the flat when authorities arrived, but they are thought to be housekeepers and building employees, according to a police source.
Woeltz was brought into custody and questioned by NYPD detectives. “He has not said anything. “He immediately hired a lawyer,” claimed a police source.
Woeltz has spoken at multiple bitcoin conferences and has “nearly a decade of experience with technology startups in Silicon Valley,” according to internet listings.
A witness reported seeing police carry a “clean-shaven, respectable”-looking man in a white bathrobe out of the building in handcuffs Friday morning, around the time the victim escaped. “The guy comes out in a white bathrobe, barefoot, hands cuffed behind his back, got into a police car,” said Ciaran Tully, 64, a photographer on Prince St.
Tully stated that the man did not say anything when he was brought out by police. “He did not seem bothered. “He didn’t seem worried or anything,” he said.
“He appeared to be in his mid to late thirties. He resembled a businessman… He seemed as if he were about to put on a suit. “He looked good,” Tully commented.
Tully, who lives in the East Village, was stunned to learn about the alleged acts.
“That’s news to me. Tully said, “I wouldn’t have guessed that.” “I am completely shocked.
“You wouldn’t expect this. “I mean, all the apartments around here are very expensive,” he said. “From outside it looks like a beautiful house.”
Woeltz had apparently been renting out the Prince St. home for between $30,000 and $40,000 per month.
A lady is also in arrest, while another guy is still wanted in connection with the murder, according to a police source.
