2 charged with allegedly kidnapping, torturing former enterprise companion in SoHo ‘home of horrors’ for weeks
SOHO, Manhattan (WABC) — Two folks have been arrested and charged in reference to the kidnapping and torture of a former crypto enterprise companion for weeks in a SoHo condominium, police mentioned.
John Woeltz, 37, was charged with 2 counts of assault, kidnapping, illegal imprisonment and legal possession of a firearm.
Woeltz lived on the handle on Prince Road, police mentioned.
A second suspect, a feminine, has additionally been arrested and charged.
Police mentioned another suspect, who’s a male, continues to be at giant.
Police mentioned a bunch was dwelling on the condominium on Prince Road that was was a home of horrors after they allegedly lured a former cryptocurrency enterprise companion again from Italy to entry his crypto account after which kidnapped and tortured him for weeks.
Woeltz, a crypto entrepreneur, was taken into custody barefoot and in a bathrobe on Friday after the 28-year-old sufferer escaped within the morning and ran to a site visitors agent for assist.
Police descended on the opulent brownstone on Prince Road as detectives tried to make sense of the wicked story they heard from the sufferer who mentioned he’d been held captive for weeks.
The 28-year-old sufferer informed police he arrived from Italy on Might 6 and went to the house on Prince Road.
He informed detectives they’d taken his passport and tortured him for the final two weeks.
Police mentioned the group was trying to extort him for thousands and thousands in crypto after luring him again from Italy.
Investigators mentioned they tied him up with electrical cords and tortured him with electrocutions and different varieties of shock therapy.
Additionally they allegedly tased him together with his toes in water, pistol-whipped him, and threatened to chop his limbs off with an electrical chainsaw.
Police mentioned they took Polaroids of themselves torturing him, one exhibiting him sure to a chair with a gun to his head. The Polaroids have been more likely to extort cash, both from the sufferer or his household again in Italy.
Additionally they allegedly compelled him to take medication, like cocaine, and used different psychological torture, telling him he would by no means escape. Additionally they allegedly put an AirTag round his neck to know the place he was within the constructing, the place he had restricted mobility.
Police mentioned the sufferer noticed his alternative to make an escape Friday morning as a result of the boys allegedly indicated it might be his demise day.
When police arrived, they discovered one resident in an upstairs rest room, sporting a bathrobe. They took him into custody and are searching for a number of others who have been dwelling in the home.
“I noticed the SWAT workforce with shields after which shortly after that, I noticed a man in handcuffs come out,” mentioned Jennifer Crawford, an eyewitness to the arrest.
A person from Italy mentioned a crypto entrepreneur took his passport and held him captive.
“The man comes out in a white bathrobe and cuffed behind his again get right into a police automotive,” mentioned eyewitness Ciaran Tully.
Police mentioned the within of the home was trashed with damaged glass, helmets, evening imaginative and prescient goggles, and a bulletproof vest in plain sight.
Police then discovered a gun and requested a search warrant for a extra detailed search.
The sufferer sustained quite a few cuts on his physique from the torture, together with one believed from the chainsaw and is being handled at Bellevue Hospital, police mentioned.
Police mentioned the 8-bedroom, 10 rest room dwelling was rented for $30,000 to $40,000 a month. It sits again from the sidewalk on the busy block of Prince Road in SoHo.
It was rented simply a few months in the past, with the newest itemizing worth at $75,000 per 30 days.
Detectives are interviewing two butlers who have been on the dwelling and labored for the suspect.
Sidewalk vendor Ciaran Tully has been watching that home for months and mentioned one thing has been off, he simply by no means knew what.
“I’ve seen folks go out and in on a regular basis and by no means actually ever noticed the identical particular person twice. So we have been questioning like what was occurring in there?” Tully mentioned.
The investigation is ongoing.
* Get Eyewitness Information Delivered
* Obtain the abc7NY app for breaking information alerts
Submit a tip or story thought to Eyewitness Information
Have a breaking information tip or an thought for a narrative we must always cowl? Ship it to Eyewitness Information utilizing the shape beneath. If attaching a video or picture, phrases of use apply.
Copyright © 2025 WABC-TV. All Rights Reserved.
