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Herman Calvin Brightman, 30, abducted one of the women and her 2-year-old child in the Bronx and brought them to his West New York home at knifepoint, said Damian Williams, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
It was only one of what NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban called many “deeply disturbing and heinous acts” that included threats to kill his victims.
Brightman also stalked a woman at her job “to ensure she did not report the attack to the authorities,” held another hostage while repeatedly assaulting her in her apartment and threatened to gut a Queens woman “like a fish,” said Williams, the federal prosecutor.
Using the names Nazir Griffiths and Nazir Luckett, Brightman posed as a nurse and a nurse practitioner to gain his victims’ trust, Williams said.
He even took selfies wearing scrubs and lab coats, the U.S. attorney said.
As soon as any of the four victims tried to end the relationship, Brightman turned violent, Williams said.
One woman was held hostage, repeatedly abused and choked out in her Bronx apartment just two weeks after a judge in New York released Brightman without bail for strangling another woman, according to the local district attorney’s office.
Another had her cell phone chopped in half with a kitchen knife that state investigators in New York said Brightman poked her with, threatening to gut her, after binding her wrists and taping her mouth.
The kidnapped Bronx woman and toddler were held for several hours in West New York before she was able to call police who rescued them, Williams said.
CLICK HERE TO READ: Brightman Indictment (Southern District of NY)
A federal judge in Manhattan ordered Brightman held without bond on an eight-count grand jury indictment charging him with kidnapping, kidnapping a minor, interstate travel to commit domestic violence, interstate communication of a threat and cyberstalking.
Williams praised the “outstanding investigative work” of the NYPD, as well as task force officers assigned to his office and members of what’s known as the Complex Analytics and Social Media Enhancement Team at the New York/New Jersey High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas office.
He also thanked the Bronx and Queens district attorney’s offices and the Ocean County (NJ) Prosecutor’s Office for their assistance.
Williams also urged anyone who might have been victimized by Brightman or has any “additional information about his alleged illegal behavior” to immediately call his office at 1-866-874-8900.
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