COLUMBUS – A Reynoldsburg man is under arrest after holding a wheelchair-bound woman at gunpoint inside a Northwest Side motel room for a brief time overnight.
Detectives with the Columbus police Sexual Assault Unit say the unidentified 39-year-old woman met Chalachew Zewdu online and invited him over to the Motel 6 at 3246 Olentangy River Road to visit.
At approximately 11:50 p.m. Thursday, the woman and another person reported Zewdu suddenly began acting irrationally and they saw a handgun in his pants pocket, investigators said.
The second person ran out of the room and called 911 but the victim, confined to a wheelchair, says Zewdu stood in front of the door and refused to allow her to exit. She says he held her in the room at gunpoint for several minutes refusing to answer responding officers.
A SWAT unit was called to the scene but dispatchers say the officers convinced Zewdu to come out of the room at 12:10 a.m., before the SWAT officers arrived.
Zewdu was taken into custody and charged with kidnapping, a felony.
The victim and witness were not hurt, police said.