Inset, top to bottom: Surveillance footage showing the man authorities say abducted a 75-year-old woman in Massachusetts last week (Pembroke Police Dept.) and Michael J. Guerrero (PPD). Background: The restaurant where Guerrero allegedly kidnapped the victim (Google Maps).
A 36-year-old Rhode Island man is accused of posing as a valet driver to abduct a 75-year-old woman from a Massachusetts restaurant, allegedly trying to force the victim to “perform lewd acts” and claiming he would shoot her if she did not.
Michael J. Guerrero was taken into custody late last week and charged with a spate of felonies, including kidnapping, indecent assault and battery on a person over age 60, and assault with a dangerous weapon on a person over 60, among other crimes, authorities announced.
According to a news release from the Plymouth County District Attorney”s Office, the victim on Sept. 15 filed a report with the Pembroke Police Department alleging she had been attacked by “an unknown assailant” in what she described as a “violent incident.”
The 75-year-old woman told police she had gone to the Ninety-Nine Restaurant in the 100 block of Church Street earlier that evening for dinner, but left her wallet and cellphone behind. The victim said that when she returned to the establishment at about 9:15 p.m. the same night, she was approached by a man who claimed to be working at the restaurant as a valet driver.
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“The front door to the Ninety-Nine Restaurant was locked at that time, and the male individual offered to drive the woman to the back entrance, which he claimed was unlocked,” prosecutors wrote. “The man entered the driver’s seat of the woman’s vehicle and drove her away from the restaurant parking lot and toward the highway. The suspect then told the woman he wanted her to perform lewd acts and stated he had a gun if she did not comply.”
When the suspect stopped at a four-way intersection in what the woman believed was either Providence or Johnston, Rhode Island, the victim said she opened the door and attempted to escape from her own vehicle. That’s when the suspect turned off the vehicle’s engine, got out, and “threw the keys away from the victim” before fleeing the scene on foot.
The victim was then able to return to Massachusetts and report the incident to authorities. Police began posting images of the suspected kidnapper to the department’s social media pages and sought the public’s assistance in identifying the suspect, with help coming from the local restaurant community.
“Employees at numerous restaurants in and around Pembroke came forward with information stating a male individual resembling the suspect had visited their establishments prior to the kidnapping,” prosecutors said. “Through witness interviews and additional surveillance footage, investigators determined the suspect had used a ride-sharing app to get transportation to and from various locations the night of the incident.”
Authorities said their preliminary investigation identified Guerrero as the male suspect seen in the surveillance footage from the restaurant as well as the ride-sharing passenger who had visited numerous other bars and restaurants just prior to the incident.
An arrest warrant for Guerrero was issued and he was taken into custody in Rhode Island on Wednesday and extradited back to Massachusetts on Monday morning, police said in a news release.
Other charges facing Guerrero include carjacking, assault and battery on a person over 60, and threat to commit a crime. He appeared in Plymouth District Court for his arraignment on Monday afternoon and pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. He was ordered to be held without bond pending a dangerousness hearing, which is currently scheduled for Oct. 6, records show.
