Scranton, PA- Police in Scranton, Pennsylvania, said they arrested a guy from Staten Island, New York, on Sunday on charges that he assaulted and kidnapped his ex-girlfriend with a knife.
Brian Gallagher, first assistant district attorney of Lackawanna County, said that William Vasquez Jr., 41, was caught in New York and is now waiting to be sent back to Pennsylvania.
The victim was also rescued and is reported to be safe and sound.
In May, the 33-year-old woman asked for an order to protect her from Vasquez, who was named as her ex-partner in the legal documents. Lackawanna County President Judge Trish Corbett made a final order on May 20 that Vasquez could not talk to the victim or her two kids, who are 5 and 2.
A friend of the victim told police that Vasquez went to his ex-girlfriend’s home in East Mountain late Saturday night while very drunk and armed with a box cutter. A police report says that a friend was at the house when the break-in happened because the victim felt afraid.
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Vasquez broke in and held them against their will. Police say he also choked, punched, talked about killing her, and cut her with a knife over and over again.
Vasquez finally got her into a car after more than an hour and told her to drive him to New York. He was later arrested in New York with the help of the New York State Police and the New York City Police Department.
Vasquez is waiting to be brought back to Scranton to face charges of kidnapping, burglary, strangulation, illegal restraint, terroristic threats, simple assault, and having a tool of crime.