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A judge ordered Albert Ferrelli, 50, and Chiahao Lee, 30, both of Queens, and Fa Deng, 42, of Staten Island detained following a brief hearing in U.S. District Court in Newark on Thursday, April 7.
The kidnapper sent the victim’s wife a photograph showing the victim with his hands bound and his eyes and mouth duct-taped while demanding $680,000 following the Tuesday night abduction, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said.
New York City police officers rescued the victim in Queens the following day after a minivan the bandits used was seen first crossing the George Washington Bridge and then making its way through the Bronx into Queens, the U.S. attorney said.
NYPD officers heard the victim shouting for help when they went to a building on Prince Street in Queens, where Sellinger said they found Ferrelli guarding the door.
“Surveillance footage obtained by law enforcement showed that during this captivity, the victim attempted to escape by running out of the building where he was eventually found,” he said.
Ferrelli is seen tackling the victim on the video, scuffling with him and then pulling him back into the building, Sellinger said.
Police found the minivan in the driveway of Lee’s home in Queens, he said.
Four people in all went to the victim’s home Tuesday night, Sellinger said.
The fourth, who wasn’t identified, was believed to be Lee’s wife, who the U.S. attorney said rented the minivan at LaGuardia Airport on Monday.
The search began after a neighbor called Fort Lee police to report several suspicious people at the victim’s home on Catherine Street near William Street.
Responding uniformed officers found “what appeared to be duct tape with pieces of latex gloves stuck to it,” Sellinger said.
They immediately cordoned off the area and summoned borough detectives. The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office was notified, a Bergen County Sheriff’s K-9 responded and the sheriff’s Bureau of Criminal Identification collected evidence.
Authorities quickly identified the gray minivan by reviewing area security footage.
Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and the NYPD with the investigation and arrests.
Handling the case for the government is Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn Silane of Sellinger’s Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.
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