A 23-year-old woman was weed whacking near her driveway in Sadsbury Township, Pennsylvania, when a man approached her from behind, holding a pair of handcuffs and a knife with a six- to eight-inch serrated blade. Investigators say the man demanded she let him put her in handcuffs, telling her everything would be okay if she complied. Instead, she revved the weed whacker, screamed, and charged at him, sending him running.
The confrontation happened around 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 14 outside the woman's home in the 300 block of Creek Road, according to court documents cited by WGAL. The station reports the woman stepped backward before revving the tool and moving toward the man while screaming, and that he fled the scene. She then ran to a neighbor's home and asked for help, telling authorities she believed the man intended to kidnap her.
Pennsylvania State Police received a 911 call from the neighbor's home just minutes after the encounter and opened an investigation into the attempted abduction. A nearby trail camera had captured a dark-colored Chevrolet pickup truck parked along Creek Road from 4:09 p.m. to 4:22 p.m., about eight minutes before the reported encounter, the station's report notes. Investigators used the footage, along with license-plate-reader searches and other identifying information, to help identify a suspect.
Photo Lineup Leads to an Immediate ID
Two days later, on Oct. 16, police showed the woman a photographic lineup containing eight people. She identified 26-year-old Junior Davila-Moran of Hamilton Township, New Jersey, right away. “This photograph makes me tremble,” she told police after seeing his picture, per the same account from WGAL.
Later that day, Hamilton Township police in New Jersey searched Davila-Moran's home and took him into custody. Troopers reportedly saw the truck connected to the case parked outside his home, with a pair of handcuffs sitting in plain sight, according to the station's reporting.
Charges Vary Across Reports
Court records show Davila-Moran facing a mix of serious charges, though news outlets have described the exact counts differently. As reported by WDSU, court records list two counts of attempted kidnapping. PennLive reported that Davila-Moran was charged with two felony kidnapping charges and six misdemeanors, including false imprisonment and simple assault.
WGAL's review of the charges listed two counts of attempted false imprisonment and two counts of possession of instruments of crime. Meanwhile, ABC27 reported that court records show Davila-Moran facing felony kidnapping charges along with misdemeanor counts of false imprisonment, simple assault, possession of an instrument of crime with intent to use, and terroristic threats. Court records also reportedly include a terroristic threats charge and two counts of possession of instruments of crime.
Under Pennsylvania law, kidnapping involves unlawfully removing a person a substantial distance or confining them for a substantial period in an isolated place, with force, threat or deception making the removal or confinement unlawful, and with a specified intent, such as holding the person for ransom, facilitating a felony, or inflicting bodily injury or terrorizing the victim, according to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Kidnapping under that statute's subsection 2901(a) is classified as a felony of the first degree, among the most serious felony grades in the state's criminal code.
