Two people are in custody after a month-long investigation into a kidnapping in West Hartford.
On January 28th, two people kidnapped a man in his 20s at knifepoint in West Hartford Center by Trout Brook Road and Boulevard, police said.
The pair appeared in court Tuesday morning.
According to police, the man had been taken and brought to several ATMs to withdraw money and to various shops to make purchases with his debit card.
After that, police said the suspects had held the man hostage overnight and released him in Hartford the next day.
“Thankfully, obviously these are the rarest of the rare, and his injuries could have been a lot worse," said West Hartford Police Captain Jeremy Clark, "The fact that he was actually able to survive and to actually make without grave injury is astonishing."
Yesterday evening around 6 p.m., West Hartford detectives, the Community Support Unit, and Emergency Services unit conducted a "high-risk search warrant" on two people: 20-year-old Tessa McElroy and 20-year-old Jalen Faucette-Smith. McElroy was taken into custody on I-84 on the Hartford line while Smith was taken into custody at WestFarms Mall.
McElroy has been charged with Kidnapping 1st, Robbery 2nd, Conspiracy to Commit Kidnapping 1st, Conspiracy to Commit Robbery 2nd, Larceny 3rd, Payment Card Theft, and Illegal Use of a Payment Card. She was issued $250,000 bond and is scheduled back in court on March 23.
Smith has been charged with Kidnapping 1st, Robbery 2nd, Conspiracy to Commit Kidnapping 1st, Conspiracy to Commit Robbery 2nd, Larceny 2nd, Larceny 3rd, Payment Card Theft. He was issued $750,000 bond and is due back in court on March 23.