Arrests Made In Abduction Of Senator's Wife

[TexasStooge]

CARTERET, N.J. (CBS) Two men suspected of kidnapping a U.S. senator's wife from her Virginia home were caught in New Jersey after they unwittingly stumbled into an undercover narcotics surveillance operation, authorities said.

The suspects, accused of abducting the wife of Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., and forcing her to withdraw money from a bank at knifepoint, fled to New Jersey and were caught late Wednesday night when they pulled off an exit of the New Jersey Turnpike. They parked in an area Carteret police had under surveillance as a known drug trafficking location, Police Chief John Pieczyski said.

Kathleen Gregg managed to escape unharmed after her ordeal Tuesday. Some of her jewelry was found in the suspects' car, authorities said.

"They were parked in a small commuter lot. My guys were down there doing surveillance because it is a known narcotics area," Pieczyski said. "Obviously, the Virginia plate stood out, and they saw these guys leave their vehicle and walk around and around and around, acting suspiciously."

An unmarked police car approached the suspects at 10:07 p.m., prompting one suspect to flee on foot, and the other to veer the car toward officers before speeding away, the chief said. It crashed a short distance away when it could not negotiate a turn, and smashed into a fence, with the driver suffering a broken leg.

No police officers were injured, Pieczyski said.

The injured suspect, Christopher Forbes, of no fixed address, was being treated at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. The second suspect, Michael Pierre of Upper Marlboro, Md., was being held Thursday afternoon in the Carteret jail.

It was not immediately clear where or when the suspects' first court appearance would be, authorities said, although none was scheduled for Thursday.

The men were charged in New Jersey with aggravated assault on a police officer, possession of stolen property and other counts. Police Chief Tom Manger of Fairfax County, Va., said he expects them to be charged in Virginia with abduction, robbery and burglary.

An FBI agent from New Jersey was in Carteret on Thursday, but no federal charges had yet been filed, said Special Agent Steve Kodak, spokesman for the Newark office.

"We are working it jointly with the FBI's Washington field office, the Fairfax police, and the Carteret police," Kodak said.

Mrs. Gregg said two men entered her McLean, Va., home Tuesday, threatened her with a knife and tied her up face down on the floor.

"One man was saying to the other man, `I don't care what happens. We're going to go down. We're going to go down together and she is going down with us,'" Gregg told WMUR-TV of Manchester on Wednesday.

Police said there was no indication the robbers knew who Mrs. Gregg was.

The intruders went through the house, rifling through jewelry and taking things they thought they could sell. They took her engagement ring, golf clubs and $50 from her wallet.

"One man was sitting on me and I kept thinking, `I need to get out of this house,' and I said, `The only way I can get you money is if we go to the bank,'" she said.

After lying tied up on the floor for more than an hour, she persuaded the men to untie her and take her to the bank. One of the assailants held a knife to her throat during the ride.

Inside the bank, as she asked for money from a teller, she said one of the men stood beside her with the knife in her side. She gave the money to the men, then bolted along a hallway and hid in a closet.

"I thought 'I am not getting back into that car with this man and going anywhere. I've got to get out of there,'" she said.

Said Manger on Thursday: "Her decision was perfect in terms of going along until she could safely get herself free."

Gregg's office released a statement praising the FBI and police.

"We want to thank everyone for keeping Kathy in their thoughts and prayers, and for the outpouring of support through this tough time," Gregg said.

[wx247]

I am glad they caught the people who did this.

[JCT777]

I too am very glad that these people were caught.