Man who kidnapped Seattle woman, locked her in cell, now charged with 2nd kidnapping

Man accused of kidnapping, locking woman in cinderblock cell tries to escape from Oregon jail

A man, accused of kidnapping a woman in Seattle and locking her in a cinderblock cell, tried to escape from an Oregon jail cell this week, deputies said.

MEDFORD, Ore. - The man accused of kidnapping a Seattle woman and keeping her in a makeshift cell in Oregon is now facing new federal charges, including another kidnapping that happened months prior.

An indictment filed in an Oregon district court on Feb. 15 showed that Zuberi is now charged with a separate kidnapping from May 6, 2023, two months before the Seattle kidnapping on July 14. He is also charged with attempted to escape from Jackson County Jail in Medford, Oregon on Aug. 22.

Few details are known of the May kidnapping, but the indictment suggests it did not necessarily cross state lines, and it involved a car, cell phone and an ATM.

The FBI said 29-year-old Negasi Zuberi posed as an undercover officer, kidnapped a woman near Aurora Ave, sexually assaulted her, drove her hundreds of miles to his home in Oregon and locked her in a makeshift cell in his garage. She slept briefly in the cell, then managed to break through part of the door's welded joints, escaped and flagged down someone for help.

The victim saw Zuberi's vehicle parked in the garage, opened it, grabbed his gun and then took off, leaving blood on a wooden fence she climbed over to escape, the complaint says. She flagged down a passing driver, who called 911.

Two Nevada State Patrol officers tracked Zuberi down at a Walmart parking lot in Reno on July 16. He was in his car holding one of his children in the front seat while talking to his wife, who was standing outside the vehicle. He initially refused to get out of the car when the officers asked and instead cut himself with a sharp object and tried to destroy his phone, according to the complaint, which notes that Zuberi eventually surrendered and that the child wasn't harmed.

Zuberi's other charges include the July 14 kidnapping, transportation for criminal sexual activity, and four counts of felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

The FBI in August warned that Zuberi—who also goes by names Sakima, Justin Hyche and Justin Kouassi—had been linked to at least four other violent sexual assaults. Zuberi has lived in multiple states since 2016, possibly including California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Utah, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Alabama, and Nevada.