NYPD investigating 'strange' kidnapping case in Bronx
The Bronx bodega's marquee reads "Deli 'N' Grocery With A Difference," and officers who chased two men into the store early Wednesday certainly found something different.
Officers from the 47th Precinct pursued the pair into the deli at 1724 Bussing Ave. around 2 a.m. While searching the store, an employee gave them permission to go down into the basement. There, officers found a 49-year-old man who told them he had been kidnapped three days earlier in the Bronx, taken to the store, bound and beaten, officials said.
When the officers went back upstairs they learned the store employee, identified as Richard Millwood, 35, who had given them access to the basement, was gone. Police said Thursday that Millwood was being sought for questioning in the case.
The NYPD did arrest Orinthia Gifford, 49, of the same address as the store, and charged her with assault, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment and other charges, officials said.
In a briefing with reporters on an unrelated matter, Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea called the case “strange.”
Shea believed marijuana and money were at the heart of the incident but said more investigation was needed to sort things out.
“We are still trying to untangle what exactly transpired there,” said Shea. “We have an awful lot of marijuana nexus to this investigation and the individuals involved.”
Police officers found a man who told them he had been kidnapped three days earlier, taken to the store, bound and beaten, officials said. Credit: Theodore Parisienne
Meanwhile, the victim found in the basement refused medical treatment and was released, police said.
Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.
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