Man Charged After Kidnapping Attempt In Parking Lot

May 9, 2024 4:58 am

SOUTH STRABANE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – A man was arrested after an alleged domestic abuse kidnapping attempted at the Giant Eagle in South Strabane Township. Witnesses say the incident happened just before 10 a.m. on Monday when they heard a woman screaming for help. Police say Jose Zaragoza was attempting to pull a woman from her vehicle, choking her and covering her nose and mouth with his hands. Witnesses told police he approached her vehicle with a roll of duct tape in his hands, which was later seen on top of the vehicle. Multiple people tried to intervene and Zaragoza ran away. He was caught at a traffic stop hours later and arrested. “It’s not just scary to be in an abusive situation, it’s scary to intervene,” said Alexandra Brooks, of the Domestic Violence Services of Southwestern PA, which offers free services to women. Brooks gave advice to anyone who finds themself a bystander to a domestic violence situation. “Being direct is anything from stepping in saying, ‘Is everything okay here?’ A lot of time that at least gets the violence to deescalate, and the person who is being violent a lot of times will leave the situation.”