BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — An Erie County grand jury has indicted a Buffalo man in the kidnapping of a Cheektowaga woman from the driveway of her home last month.
Abel Gebrehawaria, 24, is charged with second-degree kidnapping. According to prosecutors, Gebrehawaria followed the victim, a 26-year-old woman, from Downtown Buffalo to her home on George Urban Boulevard around 1:30 a.m. on March 2.
As she was getting out of her car, the suspect "forcibly abducted her from her driveway," said Acting Erie County District Attorney Michael Keane. Investigators say Gebrehawaria then dragged her to his SUV - which he had parked in the street - forced her into the back seat and drove away.
Within a distance of about eight to 10 houses from her own, the victim was able to grab the steering wheel and cause the vehicle to crash. She escaped and called police.
"This is an extremely rare occurrence," Keane said, praising the victim for her extremely brave actions in a terrifying situation. "This has not happened in our memory."
In an interview with 7 News after the kidnapping, the victim - whose name is Kelly - said she lived out her worst-case scenario.
"I knew it was life or death. I knew I would not walk out of that situation alive," Kelly said.
WATCH: 'I knew it was life or death': Cheektowaga woman says she was kidnapped in her driveway
She was able to grab her phone and take a picture of her attacker before she said he grabbed her again.
"And that was when I told him that if you're going to kidnap me, you're going to have to kill me because I'm not going down without a fight. He said get in the car, get in the car. He laughed, threw me in the back," said Kelly.
Gebrehawaria is being held without bail. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.
Kelly tells 7 News she's relieved to hear an arrest was made and sent the following statement.
"I can’t say thank you enough to the countless hours put in by the CPD and the DA’s office to make an arrest. They truly believed me from the start and have been a comforting presence this past month.
In terms of those who doubted me, I see nothing wrong with doubting the things you read on social media. But victims deserve reasonable doubt that should hold some form of reservation. You can decide not to believe something, but hold that internally instead of shaming the victim from coming forward. People don’t realize that when you come forward with a story you risk the lives of yourself as well as the people around you that you care about. It’s never easy despite what social media makes it seem.
That being said, this was a victory for women. This should stand as a reason for women to come forward. I’ve had dozens of women messaging me about scary situations that have happened to them within the last month regarding men following them in stores and other public places. Luckily, none have escalated to the same as mine. I would encourage more women to come forward, even with the smallest gut feeling of something being off, to help prevent future escalation towards other women or children. You never know if you might save a future life or not.
My last remark would be to just stay vigilant. If you ever find yourself in the same situation: fight. You never want them to have more control over your body than you do. Assume a second location will be your last and refuse to make it easy for them."
