A person in New Jersey is accused of holding a girl in opposition to her will for a 12 months earlier than she escaped and requested for assist at a gasoline station earlier this month, authorities mentioned Friday.
The lady sought assist at a gasoline station in Burlington County on Feb. 7, and she or he advised folks there she had been kidnapped for a 12 months, the state legal professional basic’s workplace mentioned.
James W. Parrillo Jr., 57, is charged with first-degree kidnapping, second-degree strangulation and aggravated assault, and third-degree felony restraint, and he’s being held in jail pending trial, officers mentioned.
“This can be a deeply disturbing case through which the defendant allegedly held a girl in opposition to her will for almost a 12 months, whereas touring along with her all through the nation, earlier than ending up right here in New Jersey the place she was in a position to escape,” Lawyer Common Matthew J. Platkin mentioned in an announcement.
Safety video obtained by NBC Philadelphia exhibits the lady, who has not been named, working into the shop and locking the door, with a person intently following her.
“The woman got here working, like barefoot, and she or he was like, ‘he kidnapped me,’” gasoline station attendant Jamie Garthaus told the station. “So, we ran inside and locked the door.”
Parrillo was arrested the identical day. An legal professional representing Parrillo couldn’t instantly be reached for remark Friday night time.
The lady advised authorities that they’d met at a New Mexico gasoline station in February 2022 when Parrillo requested her for a experience to Arizona, and so they initially had been in a relationship, the legal professional basic’s workplace mentioned.
Parrillo assaulted her a month later once they had been in California, and she or he felt unable to go away, the New Jersey legal professional basic’s workplace and state police mentioned.
Parrillo took the lady’s cellphone and credit score and debit playing cards, stored her from her household, and held her in opposition to her will, finally in New Jersey, the officers mentioned. They arrived within the state in December.
Officers mentioned the lady had observed the deadbolt on the gasoline station throughout a previous go to, and deliberate to run there when she received an opportunity.
She fled the house the place they lived in Bass River Township on Feb. 7 after she was choked and assaulted, the legal professional basic’s workplace and state police mentioned.
