MAUMEE, Ohio (WTVG/Gray News) – Six people are facing multiple charges for allegedly kidnapping a 26-year-old man and torturing him, police in Ohio said.
Police believe the victim was kidnapped on March 14 and held against his will at a Red Roof Inn in Maumee, Ohio for over a week.
During that time, the suspects allegedly beat the victim with a baseball bat, made him stand for extended periods of time, and only allowed him to eat and drink once a day. The victim only slept for about 10 hours during a seven-day stretch.
“He was being essentially tortured, assaulted, over the time frame of a week,” said Maumee Chief of Police Josh Sprow. “His injuries were results of being struck with a baseball bat, struck with fists, elbows, stomping on him when he was on the ground, which over time resulted in multiple fractured bones.”
Sprow went on to say that the suspects would let the victim out on occasion, and that’s what eventually alerted police to the situation.
On March 21, the victim was allowed to leave the room to go to a Speedway convenience store, according to police.
“When he was there, he made contact with an individual, who got in contact with the victim’s mother,” Sprow said.
The 26-year-old’s mother raced to the Red Roof Inn to help her son. Maumee police were called to the hotel. Police obtained warrants and began watching the hotel, later arresting the six suspects.
The victim was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive, but he had injuries all over his body, police said.
One woman and five men were arrested, including Martina Jones, 28; Aaron Bradshaw, 49; Austin Bradshaw, 23; David Cessna, 26; Michael Esqueda, 28; and Chance Johnston, 27.
It’s unclear if the victim knew the suspects or if the alleged crime was at random.
Charging documents did not disclose what led up to the alleged kidnapping or a possible motive.
The police chief said early investigation revealed that the woman, Martina Jones, was the one calling the shots in the kidnapping and assault.
Police said Jones ordered the men to beat and assault the victim.
Investigators determined she has a romantic relationship with the five male suspects and has multiple children with them.
“It’s clearly a strange situation when you have multiple adult men involved in a relationship with a female, and then this whole felonious assault/kidnapping taking place. Definitely not something that is normally happening in our city,” Sprow said.
The police chief said the group was planning to flee the area, but officers arrested them before they got the chance to take off.
The suspects faced a judge Monday on their charges out of Toledo. The judge set their bond at $200,000 each.
On Thursday, all six were indicted by a grand jury. They are each charged with one count of kidnapping, three counts of felonious assault and two counts of tampering with evidence.
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