Woman escaped cinderblock cell, flagged down help after being held by man who may have other victims, FBI says
Negasi Zuberi, 29, has been charged with interstate kidnapping. Officials say he's been linked to at least four sexual assault cases in four states.
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By Marlene Lenthang and Andrew Blankstein
''A "violent sex assault offender" accused of holding a kidnapped woman captive in a makeshift cinderblock cell in his Oregon garage may have other victims, the FBI said Wednesday.
Negasi Zuberi — a 29-year-old who goes by the aliases "Sakima," "Justin Hyche" and "Justin Kouassi" — was arrested July 16 after the woman escaped and was able to flag down help.
He has been linked to four violent sexual assaults in at least four states, officials said, without detailing the locations.
He's been charged with one count of interstate kidnapping.
Authorities honed in on Zuberi one day after he traveled from his Klamath Falls, Oregon, home to Seattle, Washington, where he solicited a prostitute and kidnapped her, the FBI’s Portland Field Office said in a news release Wednesday.
He posed as an undercover police officer, flashing a badge, pointing a Taser, and placing the woman in handcuffs, before putting her into the backseat of his car, according to the criminal complaint.
“He then traveled roughly 450 miles with the woman, sexually assaulting her during the trip,” the FBI release said.
Once at his home, he put her into a makeshift cell he constructed in his garage of cinderblocks with a metal door that couldn’t be opened from the inside, officials said. '''
''Zuberi has lived in 12 states — California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Utah, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois, Alabama and Nevada — over the last decade, the FBI said. Officials said that he may have used several methods to target victims, including drugging drinks and impersonating a police officer.
The FBI launched an investigation website where potential victims or others with information related to the case can fill out a form to offer more information.
"Some of the encounters may have been filmed to make it appear as if the assault was consensual," the page noted. "The victims are threatened with retaliation if they notify the police."
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