A man has been arrested after a kidnapped woman was found naked in his U-Haul.
Dennis Bell is facing 33 traffic and criminal charges after the victim was discovered stripped of her clothes and stabbed in each of her fingers.
The Maryland man has been accused of first-degree assault, kidnapping, false imprisonment, fourth-degree sex offence, possession of suspected crack cocaine, and driving while impaired.
The unidentified victim claimed that Bell “pushed her into the U-Haul truck and threatened her life if she did not comply with his demands,” after initially spotting the woman in a Washington D.C. convenience store on Friday morning.
The woman claims her kidnapper took her clothes and used a pocket knife to stab all of her fingers before the suspect spent the majority of the day driving around with the victim seated on the floor board in the front seat.
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Authorities were alerted to the incident after troopers from College Park Barrack reportedly received mutliple calls about a U-Haul driving erratically and hitting parked cars in Lanham, Maryland at around 9.45pm, the Daily News reports.
The truck was located on Route 450 and Bell kept driving despite troopers attempting a traffic stop.
A brief chase ended after Bell’s vehicle entered a ditch and Bell refused to exit the vehicle with troopers eventually gaining access through the passenger window.
The victim was provided with a jacket by officers who found the woman still sitting on the ground. She was then transferred to hospital.
Bell was described as ‘uncooperative’ by police and refused to identify himself.
He was also treated at hospital before being taken to the Upper Marlboro Department of Corrections.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing and authorities have asked anyone with information about the case to contact MDSP’s Criminal Enforcement Division.
