A Colorado man who allegedly kidnapped a supervising housekeeper who works at a ranch owned by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was arrested this week in Wyoming.
Joseph Beecher, 48, had allegedly asked the woman – who remained unidentified – about the whereabouts of Bloomberg’s two adult daughters after he rammed his truck through the ranch’s gate and forced her at gunpoint to leave with him, court documents said.
Beecher also allegedly ranted about Bloomberg and claimed he wanted to cause an “international scene” while he made her drive him in her truck to the Denver area.
When she was allegedly forced to take money out of an ATM, the woman mouthed the words “help me” toward the machine’s surveillance camera and she was finally located at a motel in Cheyenne, Wyoming, after investigators traced her iPad.
Joseph Beecher, 48, is suspected of a kidnapping on Feb. 2, 2022, authorities say.
(Laramie County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
WHITMER KIDNAPPING PLOT DEFENSE SEEKS TO DISMISS INDICTMENT
Beecher, who allegedly had an AR-15 firearm and a handgun with him, was arrested and charged Thursday with kidnapping in federal court.
Mike Bloomberg is seen in New York City, Nov. 29, 2021.
(Getty Images)
The woman was unharmed but Beecher allegedly kissed her on the forehead and told her if she wasn’t a woman she would be dead.
The suspect has no known connection to the employee or the Bloombergs. He lives in Craig, Colorado, around 70 miles from the ranch where he worked as an apartment handyman, authorities said.
The victim also alleged Beecher told her that he had gone to a local airport last summer looking for Bloomberg, court documents said.
“We’re deeply grateful to the Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s office, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Wyoming law enforcement, the F.B.I. and other individuals for their swift and heroic action in this case in ensuring that no lives were lost and that the victim has been rescued and safely returned to her family,” Bloomberg’s spokesperson, Ty Trippet, said in a statement.
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Bloomberg purchased the ranch in 2020 for $44.8 million.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
