Police release 911 tape of alleged kidnapping case


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OREM -- Police released the 911 call from a woman made from the home of plastic surgeon Joseph Berg Thursday.

The call lasted 30 minutes and most of it is muffled, but the woman on the other end of the phone pleads with the dispatcher for help. In the background can be heard a man cursing at the woman repeatedly, as he accuses her of cheating.

"I didn't," she says, as the man continues to accuse her of cheating. "Yeah you did," he says. "You don't think you did, but you know what," as the woman is heard screaming, "You can't pull my hair."

According to charges filed, Berg attacked his girlfriend and dragged her to a bedroom closet, where she managed to call 911, leaving the phone off the hook.

In an interview last month, Dr. Joseph Berg told KSL his girlfriend had been drinking that night and he was trying to restrain her from driving.

"It went from taking the cables off her car to where I'm having to physically hold her and try and say I love you, and hey, let's work this out in a timid fashion" he said. "It had to escalate to prevent it. I didn't want it to escalate; I wanted the police to help out."


It had to escalate to prevent it. I didn't want it to escalate; I wanted the police to help out.

–Joseph Berg


Police said they knocked for several minutes before they forcefully entered the home, where they found the woman in a closet bound with tape to a dresser.

Berg now faces charges of aggravated kidnapping and is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 19. Earlier this month, DOPL suspended his medical license after employees of Berg reported strange behavior that included falling asleep while standing up, swallowing several pills and buying drugs he did not use in his practice.

Email: kmccord@ksl.com

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Keith McCord

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