Homeless man charged in kidnapping of girlfriend, Suffolk police say

A man kidnapped his girlfriend from a Smithtown hotel and drove her to New Jersey before returning to Suffolk County, where he was arrested Monday, police said.

The man, Kenyonne Fleurinay, 23, faces a kidnapping charge after he was accused of holding the 20-year-old woman in a car against her will. Police did not identify the woman.

In a release, Suffolk police said they got a 911 call from the woman’s mother at 11:20 p.m. Sunday. Fleurinay carried the woman from a room at America’s Best Value Inn in Smithtown to a 2020 Chevrolet Impala waiting in the parking lot, police said.

They stopped at a gas station in Melville where the woman made an unsuccessful escape attempt, police said, before continuing to New Jersey. The woman’s family convinced him to return to Suffolk. A patrol officer stopped the car at 2:47 a.m. on Middle Island Road in Medford. Fleurinay surrendered without incident.

Neither Fleurinay nor the woman had a fixed address, according to the release. In an email, a police spokesperson said the events that led to the alleged kidnapping were unclear, as was the intended destination.

Fleurinay was scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip March 8, according to the release. According to a court database, he faces unrelated additional charges and will be represented by Suffolk County Legal Aid Society, but his lawyer could not be reached Monday night.

Detectives are asking anyone with information to call the Fourth Squad at 631-854-8452.