23°
Zuberi was posing as a police officer when he kidnapped his victim, a sex worker, then drove her 450 miles to his home in Klamath Falls, Oregon, the FBI's Portland Field Office said.
Zuberi moved the woman into a cinderblock cell he had built in his garage, and installed a metal door in reverse, so it could only be opened from the outside.
Once Zuberi left, the victim says she repeatedly banged on the door and was able to break the door open and escape the room. She flagged down a passing motorist who called 9-1-1.
Zuberi fled but was captured in Reno, Nevada, where he was arrested after a brief standoff with local police, the FBI said.
“According to the complaint, this woman was kidnapped, chained, sexually assaulted, and locked in a cinderblock cell," said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Stephanie Shark of the FBI Portland Field Office.
"Police say, she beat the door with her hands until they were bloody in order to break free. Her quick thinking and will to survive may have saved other women from a similar nightmare.
Zuberi has since been linked to violent sexual assaults in at least four states, and there could be more, Shark said.
The FBI's investigation has extended to multiple states where Zuberi previously lived between August 2016 and today, including California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Utah, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Alabama, and Nevada.
It wasn't immediately clear where in New Jersey Zuberi is from.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Newark and receive free news updates.
