High winds helped foil kidnapping, report says
POWELLVILLE, Md. -- Surfboards and a wind advisory on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel helped play a role in stopping an attempted kidnapping on Sunday, according to CBS affiliate WBOC.
The Wicomico County Sheriff's Office in Maryland told the station the incident began Sunday when a woman called and told deputies her ex-boyfriend -- later identified as 21-year-old Phillip James Timmons -- had broken into her home in Powellville and was abducting her.
When law enforcement first arrived at the scene, they reportedly found the door forced open and found no one inside. Deputies then discovered an open Glock handgun box in the victim's bedroom -- with the handgun missing -- and .45 ammunition on the floor.
At that time, Timmons and his ex-girlfriend were already about 100 miles away in Virginia near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, according to the station. A wind advisory meant that the surfboards in the back of the suspect's pickup truck had to be removed and transported by Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel Authority workers.
WBOC reports that it was after officials drove the surfboards to the other side of the span that the situation escalated.
"The individual who was driving the vehicle (pickup truck) stepped out to assist putting them back into the truck. The female who was in the vehicle then jumped into the driver's seat and proceeded to drive away," a Virginia police official told the station.
Timmons then allegedly chased the vehicle on foot and jumped onto the bed of the truck. Authorities, witnessing the spectacle, asked the woman what was going on. She began telling the officers about the kidnapping, and authorities put Timmons into handcuffs, according to WBOC.
As Timmons was being taken to the ground, a handgun reportedly fell out of his waistband.
Timmons has been charged with kidnapping, abduction, and firearm related charges and is expected to be extradited back to Maryland, the station reported. He also has court dates in November for related charges in Virginia.