By The newspaper
Apr 25, 2024, 00:34 AM EDT
Damion Gooden was arrested in Pennsylvania on suspicion of breaking into a woman’s New York apartment, beating her and kidnapping her and her 13-year-old son in violation of a restraining order.
Gooden, 47, allegedly invaded the Elmira, NY home early Sunday morning around 12:30 a.m. and beat the mother on her bed before threatening her with a large kitchen knife and tying her to a chair. according to an arrest affidavit cited by WENY-TV.
He then allegedly dragged the woman into the kitchen by her hair and restrained her with a shoelace and a phone charger. At approximately 5 a.m. she put them both in the woman’s car and told them she would take them to Philadelphia, a city 237 miles away.
Authorities were alerted to the incident when 20 miles from the course, Gooden stopped for gas in Athens, Pennsylvania, and accidentally dropped his cell phone from a pocket. The woman quickly used it to call 911 before he returned and authorities arrived just as the car drove away.
When he was arrested, Gooden turned himself in to the police with his hands up and said he had “made a mistake.” He later confessed to the crimes while he was booked into the Athens Police Department, he reported. DailyNews.
The woman, who has not been identified, had a restraining order against Gooden, but the details of their relationship are unclear. Gooden is not the child’s father, according to the affidavit.
Gooden was remanded in custody on $2 million bail and has been charged with nine crimes, including kidnapping to inflict terror and kidnapping of a minor, unlawful restraint causing serious bodily injury and terroristic threats with intent to intimidate another. person.
All charges are mere accusations and those charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
Domestic violence is common in New York City and surrounding areas, between relatives, roommates and partners, even with minor victims. Every day in NYC, an average of 747 incidents of domestic violence – including assaults, abuse, verbal abuse – and about 65 homicides are reported annually.
Being in an abusive relationship is complicated. Love, children, family, community, money, security – leaving is never easier.
— Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence (@nycendgbv) April 11, 2022
This month a mother was accused of killing her 5-year-old twins in the Bronx (NYC). Last Good Friday, a 9-year-old Latino boy died in a burning car behind a high school in New Jersey and his father, a school employee, was accused of setting the fire after a domestic dispute.
At the end of March, a young 26-year-old athlete was accused of killing her mother by hitting her with a pot in their home in the Bronx. Also last month, a son was arrested on suspicion of fatally beating his mother at her home in New Jersey.
In February, a man was accused of killing his sister by hitting her several times with a frying pan as she sat next to their father at a home in New York.
Also in February, a young 43-year-old Hispanic grandmother was shot to death by her partner, who then committed suicide in the victim’s apartment in Brooklyn (NYC). Earlier that month, a mother died and her two children were injured after a gunman opened fire on the family inside an apartment in the Bronx (NYC).
In January, a man was arrested a day after his mother’s funeral on suspicion of having strangled her at her home in Staten Island (NYC). Also that month, a man and a woman were found dead with gunshot wounds to the head in an apartment in Brooklyn (NYC) in an apparent murder-suicide. Days before, a Hispanic woman killed her daughters and her husband and then took her own life inside her home in Union (NJ) after receiving an eviction order, authorities reported.
If you are a victim or suspect that someone is being abused, especially if it is a minor or elderly:
I looked for help
- Call 911, 988 or (800)-942-6906.
- Text “WELL” to 65173.
- Review information at https://nycwell.cityofnewyork.us/es/ and www.988lineadevida.org