WILDWOOD, N.J. -- A juvenile being forced to drive from Wildwood to Philadelphia escaped Friday morning by crashing into a police car parked on the shoulder of the Ben Franklin Bridge.
After the crash, Floribert Nava, 45, of Wildwood, was arrested and charged with kidnapping, Cape May County Prosecutor Robert L. Taylor said.
Taylor said Officer Mark Pawloski, a 24-year veteran of the Delaware River Port Authority was parked along the Ben Franklin Bridge, in a marked police vehicle, when he was struck by a vehicle being driven by the juvenile victim. The victim then jumped from the vehicle, Taylor said, and announced to the officer that the passenger in the vehicle had a gun and had kidnapped her earlier in the day from Wildwood.
Nava was then arrested and taken in custody.
Detectives from the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office and from the Wildwood Police Department responded and determined that the juvenile female and Nava had a prior dispute over the adoption of a recently born child, and that Nava still wanted the child.
Taylor said Nava met the juvenile Friday morning armed with a handgun and forced the victim to drive to Philadelphia because she said she wanted to be taken to the location of the adoptive parents.
Pawloski, who had been assisting a stranded motorist, was not injured. He placed Nava under arrest and located an Airsoft handgun. Also located in the vehicle was a bag containing duct tape, trash bags and latex gloves, Taylor said.
Both the victim and the accused were interviewed by members of the Prosecutors Office and the Wildwood Police Department while at the Camden County Prosecutor's Office. As a result, Nava was charged with kidnapping, a first-degree crime; terroristic threats and possession of weapon, both third-degree crimes; and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, a fourth-degree crime.
Nava was being held in the Cape May County jail Monday in lieu of $400,000.00 bail.
Copyright 2013 - The Press of Atlantic City, Pleasantville, N.J.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
