Suspect arrested two days after woman's rescue, Louisville police say
Louisville police bodycam shows dramatic rescue of woman chained to floor of house
GRAPHIC VIDEO: A woman screaming for help from a house in Louisville, Kentucky, was found chained to the floor when police responded, authorities said. (Credit: Louisville Metro Police Department)
Police in Louisville have released bodycam footage showing the dramatic rescue of a woman who was found chained to the floor of a house after neighbors heard her screams for help.
Footage from officer-worn bodycams on Aug. 16 shows two officers circling the two-story house in the 1700 block of Bolling Avenue to find a way inside. The officers, however, quickly learned that all doors and windows on the first floor were completely barricaded, Louisville Metro Police Department said.
Neighbors lent the officers a ladder, which they used to climb to a window on the second floor that had been shattered.
Officers climbed inside, where they discovered a disturbing scene.
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Officers found the woman who was screaming for help chained to the floor inside a room on the home's second floor. (Louisville Metro Police Department )
The woman who had been crying for help had a chain wrapped around her neck and secured with a padlock. The other end of the chain was bolted to the floor, police said.
Officers found one end of the chain bolted to the floor. (Louisville Metro Police Department )
Officers found a hatchet in the room and could be seen on video chopping the end of the chain bolted to the floor. After freeing the woman, the officers safely brought her outside the home, where firefighters used bolt cutters to remove the chain from around the woman’s neck.
An officer found a hatchet in the room and used it to break the chain and free the woman. (Louisville Metro Police Department )
Police said a suspect was arrested in connection with the case two days after the woman’s rescue.
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The suspect, identified as 36-year-old Moises May, was charged with kidnapping, two counts of assault, and terroristic threatening, according to WDRB. He was also charged with intimidating a participant in the legal process, wanton endangerment and harassment.
Moises May, 36, was charged with kidnapping, two counts of assault and terroristic threatening, plus other charges. (Louisville Metro Police Department)
The victim, Joanna Wilson, spoke to the station about the ordeal, alleging that May, her estranged boyfriend and father of her child, had made her strip her clothes off, used a machete to cut her hair and threatened to kill her.
"He made me strip naked, he put the chain around my neck. He called his friend and said, 'I've got to take this equipment back to Lowe's. When I come back, I'm going to kill you,'" Wilson told the outlet. "I only had a few minutes to get out."
Officers brought the woman safely outside, where firefighters used bolt cutters to remove the chain from around her neck. (Louisville Metro Police Department )
Wilson said she was chained up in the house for about five hours before police arrived. She said she used to share the home with May.
She told the station that her child is staying with family.
Fox News’ Andrea Vacchiano contributed to this report.
