A 38-year-old Utica man is facing a slate of charges after Rome police say he held a victim captive and subjected them to repeated physical abuse over the course of a week before the victim managed to escape and call for help from a neighbor's house. Kenneth R. Walker was arrested following the domestic incident on North Madison Street, and police say the ordeal ended only when the victim broke free and reached safety on the morning of September 25.
According to Newport Dispatch, police responded to North Madison Street in Rome at about 7 a.m. that Friday after receiving a report of a domestic dispute. Officers say the victim had been subjected to repeated physical abuse by Walker over the course of a week, and that he prevented the victim from leaving the residence during that time.
Escape and a Neighbor's Help
Police said Walker also took the victim's phone and, at one point, tried to drag the victim back inside the residence. The victim ultimately escaped the residence that morning and contacted police from a neighbor's residence, according to the same report.
Walker was not immediately taken into custody at the scene. Instead, New York State Parole located him in Oneida and arrested him without incident, according to the report. He was then transferred to Rome police custody to face the charges connected to the incident.
Charges Filed Against Walker
Walker was charged with unlawful imprisonment, aggravated family offense, third-degree robbery, third-degree assault and third-degree coercion, per the report. New York's unlawful imprisonment statute, as laid out by the New York State Senate, defines second-degree unlawful imprisonment as restraining another person, while a related provision addresses a first-degree version of the offense under more serious circumstances.
Following the arrest, Walker was processed pending arraignment and held at centralized arraignment court, the report states. No further details on the outcome of that arraignment have been released.
