A West Valley man called 911 after learning his neighbor was being held hostage.
West Valley police say the victim's boyfriend chained her to an engine block inside their apartment. They think she had been held captive at least a week, maybe two to three weeks, inside the Mark 4 apartments in West Valley City.
What happened inside apartment 19 sounds like something out of a horror movie script. It ended when the victim was able to communicate a message to a neighbor behind her apartment and he called 911.
"She says she has to lock the door, that she can't come out of her room," the neighbor told the dispatcher.
The neighbor talked to the victim while on the phone with police. "Why do you need police?" he asked her, then told the dispatcher, "She says her boyfriend is gonna hit her if she comes out of the room."
"While he was at the apartment, she would not be chained up. She had free reign inside the apartment. He was not denying her food or water or anything else, but when he would leave he would chain her to an engine block inside the apartment," explained Capt. Tom McLachlan, spokesman for the West Valley Police Department. He said that chain was just long enough to go into the bathroom, so the woman was allowed to use the bathroom.
On Friday, unchained and with her boyfriend home, the woman used this dresser to barricade herself in the back bedroom, but she couldn't get out. "All of the windows had been screwed shut so you couldn't open them," McLachlan explained.
But the victim got creative. "She was writing in reverse in the condensation on the window that she needed help, call 911," McLachlan said.
The neighbor living behind her saw it and took action. The victim yelled the name of her boyfriend, or captor, 32-year-old Fernando Orozco-Trevizo to the neighbor. Soon after the neighbor called police, the boyfriend took off.
That was all last Friday. Yesterday, officers arrested Orozco-Trevizo at the Daybreak development where he works putting up drywall. He was caught thanks to a resourceful victim and a neighbor who acted on instincts.
"If he had not taken the time to investigate that writing in the condensation on the window, this situation would still be ongoing," McLachlan said.
According to police, Orozco-Trevizo was once deported but re-entered the country. He's in the Salt Lake County Jail tonight on suspicion of multiple crimes.
The victim suffered some bruises from domestic abuse, but other than that she's fine.
West Valley police say the victim's boyfriend chained her to an engine block inside their apartment. They think she had been held captive at least a week, maybe two to three weeks, inside the Mark 4 apartments in West Valley City.
What happened inside apartment 19 sounds like something out of a horror movie script. It ended when the victim was able to communicate a message to a neighbor behind her apartment and he called 911.
"She says she has to lock the door, that she can't come out of her room," the neighbor told the dispatcher.
The neighbor talked to the victim while on the phone with police. "Why do you need police?" he asked her, then told the dispatcher, "She says her boyfriend is gonna hit her if she comes out of the room."
"While he was at the apartment, she would not be chained up. She had free reign inside the apartment. He was not denying her food or water or anything else, but when he would leave he would chain her to an engine block inside the apartment," explained Capt. Tom McLachlan, spokesman for the West Valley Police Department. He said that chain was just long enough to go into the bathroom, so the woman was allowed to use the bathroom.
On Friday, unchained and with her boyfriend home, the woman used this dresser to barricade herself in the back bedroom, but she couldn't get out. "All of the windows had been screwed shut so you couldn't open them," McLachlan explained.
But the victim got creative. "She was writing in reverse in the condensation on the window that she needed help, call 911," McLachlan said.
The neighbor living behind her saw it and took action. The victim yelled the name of her boyfriend, or captor, 32-year-old Fernando Orozco-Trevizo to the neighbor. Soon after the neighbor called police, the boyfriend took off.
That was all last Friday. Yesterday, officers arrested Orozco-Trevizo at the Daybreak development where he works putting up drywall. He was caught thanks to a resourceful victim and a neighbor who acted on instincts.
"If he had not taken the time to investigate that writing in the condensation on the window, this situation would still be ongoing," McLachlan said.
According to police, Orozco-Trevizo was once deported but re-entered the country. He's in the Salt Lake County Jail tonight on suspicion of multiple crimes.
The victim suffered some bruises from domestic abuse, but other than that she's fine.
Comment