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MILLCREEK— Police have two people in custody and are searching for a third in connection with a kidnapping of a man and woman in Millcreek.
Unified Police Department Lt. Don Hutson said three men entered the home of the owners of Monarch Coins Tuesday night. They bound the wife, then one suspect left with the husband, forcing him into the driver's seat of his own vehicle.
"Somehow, obviously, he was separated from his wife," Hutson said. "He was taken to his vehicle by force."
Police don't know where the suspect intended to force the man to go, but as he was driving down 3900 South, the hostage crashed into the police substation in order to alert authorities of the crisis.
"That was pretty brave on his part," Hutson said. "It looks like this worked out."
"Seconds after the crash, someone exited the car from the passenger side and ran really quickly down the street on 39th South, past the police building and then immediately one of the officers came out the front door," said Kathleen Barrett,"and I screamed to him that he was, the suspect was running down the street."
"We saw somebody crawl across the front seat, got out the passenger side, but obviously came from the driver's side to the passenger side all in black: black backpack, black hoodie, and ran up 39th or west on 39th," said Karen Price.
A 19-year-old man wearing all black was seen running away from the vehicle. Police captured the suspect about half a block from the scene of the accident.
There was a trail of evidence, including a gun found between the site of the crash and where the suspect was captured.
Hutson said the couple was very traumatized, especially since it appears the suspects knew a lot about them prior to the kidnapping.
"This person is very traumatized, this homeowner," he said. "Obviously (he) doesn't want too much information to get out there for fear that something like this might happen in the future."
The crash at the police substation caused a natural gas line to break. The building was evacuated while crews shut off the gas line.
The couple were not seriously injured, according to police.
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Story compiled with contributions from Molly Farmer and Sarah Dallof.
