By: Patti Weaver
(Perkins, Okla.) — A woman, who said she was kidnapped from her home in Moore, pistol-whipped, choked, robbed and forced into a car driven to Perkins, was rescued here last week, Police Chief Bob Ernst told KUSH.
The frantic victim said she was taken to her relatives’ house in Perkins, told to get money from them and be back within two minutes — or she and her relatives would all be murdered, Police Sgt. Kyle Howard wrote in an affidavit.
“I was trying to calm her as she was crying and breathing heavily. She was screaming the people outside had guns and she was afraid they would kill her,” Police Sgt. Howard wrote in his affidavit.
The victim was rescued in less than a minute — after one of her relatives called 911, the Perkins police chief said. “Perkins did an incredible job,” District Attorney Laura Thomas remarked.
Five suspects, who claim to be affiliated with a gang in the Oklahoma City area and are related to each other, were arrested by Perkins police shortly before midnight on April 14, the chief said. Three loaded guns were recovered from their vehicle after a Payne County judge issued search warrants, the chief said.
All five, including a teenaged woman, were charged in Cleveland County District Court this week with multiple felony counts in connection with the alleged incident that began in Moore, court records show.
Four Oklahoma City men, Samuel Young III, 56, Christopher A. Scott, 34, Darrell D. Johnson, 22, and Brandon Sharaud Hollins Jr., 19, were held in the Payne County Jail pending their arraignments in Cleveland County on charges of first-degree burglary, first-degree robbery, kidnapping for extortion, committing a pattern of criminal offenses, and possessing a firearm after a former felony conviction. Scott, the victim’s ex-boyfriend, was also charged with domestic violence by strangulation.
A Midwest City woman, Amaya Amour Smith, 19, who was released from the Payne County Jail on $100,000 bail, has been charged in Cleveland County only with first-degree burglary, kidnapping for extortion, and committing a pattern of criminal offenses.
Asked about the motive, the Perkins police chief said, “We think it has to do with money and possibly jealousy.”
The victim’s male friend “was beat up pretty bad. They left him there. He is safe and alive,” the Perkins police chief added.
“We are working with Moore PD very closely,” the chief said. He said Moore police were unaware of what had happened until “we called Moore when we figured it out.”
Sgt. Howard was on duty at 11:42 p.m. on April 14 with a trainee when he heard a dispatcher send Perkins Police Officer Daryn Zanfardino to the location regarding “people outside the residence with guns,” according to his affidavit.
“Upon arrival to that location, I saw Officer Zarfardino outside his vehicle pointing his service pistol at one male subject outside the residence…He (Scott) said he had a legal gun in the car. He also said he was just at his girlfriend’s house. Inside the running vehicle beside him were four other subjects,” Sgt. Howard wrote in his affidavit.
After the sergeant went inside the house, he was eventually able to calm the frightened victim, his affidavit said.
“She told me that her ex-boyfriend, Christopher Scott, was abusive. He, along with the other four, came to her home in Moore. They separated her and her friend,” the sergeant wrote in his affidavit.
“Sam Young pistol-whipped her and their intention was to get money. They loaded her up and took her to Perkins. She did not know what happened to her friend. While in Perkins, she was still held against her will, not freely allowed to leave.
“She was told to go inside and get money (from her relatives) and be back within two minutes. Otherwise her and her family would be murdered,” the sergeant alleged in his affidavit.
“I saw a fresh bump that was raised over her left eye area. She showed me fresh, small red marks on her neck where she claims he strangled her. She also showed a large bruise on her right arm behind her triceps region. I spoke with Moore PD and advised them of the situation,” the Perkins sergeant wrote in his affidavit.
The sergeant then walked outside and told two Perkins police officers to start arresting the five suspects on suspicion of kidnapping and robbery, the affidavit said. The woman’s ex-boyfriend was also arrested for suspected domestic violence by strangulation, the affidavit said.
The woman said that four $100 bills were stolen from her, the affidavit alleged. “She also stated that they ‘ransacked’ her house and flipped her couch. These are similar things Moore PD stated to me via phone,” the Perkins sergeant wrote in his affidavit.
“Through the jail, I learned that Samuel Young did in fact have four $100 bills in his possession. The money was taken for safekeeping,” the Perkins sergeant wrote in his affidavit.
Only one of the five suspects agreed to speak to the sergeant at 12:32 a.m. on April 15, the affidavit said.
“Brandon (Hollins) repeated over and over that he did not know what was going on. He was just asked to help get some things from his friend’s girlfriend’s house. I told him it seemed weird he and four others in a Chevy Impala just wanted to grab some things in Perkins, Oklahoma, at that time of night without nefarious intentions. He said he just wanted a ride home and didn’t want to come to Perkins.
“He said he had no knowledge of a kidnapping and didn’t know (the woman). He later stated that Christopher and (the woman) always fought and fought earlier that day. They’re always on-again-off-again. He stated there was no fighting or talking on the way to Perkins, only listening to music.
“I told him there was more to the story that he is not telling and he agreed with that. He said the issue was between Chris and (the woman). He wanted to end the conversation and would not speak further,” the Perkins police sergeant wrote in his affidavit.
***
