YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. He managed to stand before being subdued. At trial, Kollias and Ewo testified about their horrific experiences. Darla Crane Age, Full Biography, Where Is She Now? While one of the kidnappers records, two of the others are seen threatening Ani Okeke Ewo with a hedge-trimmer, and then prodding Nicholas lying on the floor covered in blood. Lora and Rolldan face kidnapping and criminal possession of a weapon charges. It turned out that Smith was in on it and the blame then shifted onto Ewo, who the other dealers just assumed was involved. UR abduction case:. The earlier robbery allegedly occurredat an off-campus Brooks Landing student apartment building. Perhaps Its Time For The Johnsons Sitcom To End, Hannah Cheramy What You Must Know About The Rising Star. "So they'd give us a little bit of a lead and we'd be able to follow up on that, we'd wind up in the dead end, we'd have to come back and get more information. ", "I thought the house was being burned down," said Nicholas. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 4/4/2023), Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/26/2023). The two men were then taken into the bathroom and had their hands and feet taped together and were tortured with hedge clippers and other improvised weapons before being sexually assaulted for the next 40 hours. "Please! Several masked men brandish guns, knivesand chainsaws as they threaten and taunt the two students, who lie bleeding and injured on a bathroom floor. This pocket Bluetooth printer lets you print your precious memories before they hit Instagram. You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. Criminal indictments unsealed Wednesday in the kidnapping of two University ofRochester football players add multiple counts of predatory sexual assault as well as firearms chargesagainst at least two of the defendants. "It was dark out and from the outside it seemed like a decent house," said Nicholas. Sources have told theDemocrat and Chroniclethat Ewo was wrongly identified as an individual involved in the robbery of local drug dealers, and that mistake prompted the kidnapping. What Is The Use Of Judging Matters Show? Ewo and a female acquaintance had been. One of the women reached out to Ewo via Facebook and text messages, Kollias said, and he and Ewo met them one night and went with them to the house. All six suspects are due in court on Friday for a preliminary hearing. Few details of what transpired during those 40 hours had been released, other than that the pair were allegedlythreatened, beaten and terrorized. David Alcaraz-Ubiles was found guilty of kidnapping and weapons charges and sentenced to 15 years in prison. 00:11 EDT 12 Dec 2015. Outside of court Thursday afternoon, Prosecutor Matthew Schwartz wouldn't say whether Ewo planned to testify, and declined to identify other potential witnesses he might call. "I just feel like with everything that happened, I feel like he had more to do with it than he will ever admit," said Nicholas Kollias. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Nine people were accused of roles in the abduction and torture of the two men. Once inside, Kollias said, the assault began. December 4,. "For me, I have always said I don't want this to hold me back, I don't want this to label me," said Nicholas. Kollias also suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his leg in the ordeal. The investigation into the students disappearances is ongoing. Lydell Strickland, who was found guilty of more than two dozen charges, including kidnapping, assault, gang assault and sexual abuse, was sentenced to 155 years to life in prison. So Ani took a quick picture of me and sent it to them.". Though saying he had no information to support the alleged connection, Seligmansaid UR was working with local police, UR Public Safety and campus housing to "strengthen campus safety and to address drug use on campus. University of Rochester students Ani Okeke Ewo, left, and Nicholas Kollias are seen in undated photos distributed by authorities after their 2015 abduction. 'I do want to point out this was a directed event and we have no information or evidence of any kind that this constituted a general threat to the University of Rochester community, nor do we have any information or evidence that there is a threat or safety concern to the University of Rochester community at this point,' he said, according to the Democrat & Chronicle. "At that point she really wasn't free to leave.". But soon the changing scenery catches Nicholas's attention. The two students, Nicholas Kollias and Ani Okeke Ewo, were reported missing Saturday after they were last seen near campus in the early morning hours. But why? They just looked like they had been through hell. On December 4, 2015, Ani and Kollias were hanging out with their friends from the football team, when they were approached by a lady Samantha Hughes, who tried to friend the two players on Facebook earlier in the week. Police said they were . They soon catch a break when they track down the girl who messaged Ani. I was thinking about my family, parents and God. It was just flopping around, and somehow I managed to get back to my feet and get to the door," said Nicholas. He also had shards of glass embedded in his eardrum when a light bulb was smashed on his head. Hughes was less than helpful. "I thought they were burning down the house," he said, "but it was the SWAT team saving our lives.". The students are both from Illinois and were last seen near. ", "We rolled the dice on the first house we hit was the correct one," said Peters. Kollias and Ewo were sexually assaulted,. The defendants convinced a woman to flirt with Ewo on Facebook. "I didn't think I was going to make it until (that) Monday," Kollias, 23, told theChicago TribuneTuesday. They roll up. Who is Ani Okeke Ewo And What Happened To Him. Police believe it was a premeditated attack. He's also seen in other damning videos cops found around town. Growing up in an upscale suburb of Chicago, Nicholas Kollias was the all-American high school kid. Kollias was sitting on a couch when the attackers rushed into the room, armed, he said, with knives, baseball bats, pipesand guns. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. Samantha Hughes and Leah Gigliotti, the girls who lured the football players to that house of horrors, eventually gave police two addresses. Ani Okeke Ewo and Nicholas Kollias, who both testify against their kidnappers, watch that grotesque video in court. His gridiron goal became a reality at the University of Rochester in New York. Jurors also heard audiotapes of phone calls that Kollias said he was forced to make on Saturday and Sunday to his financial institutions, seeking to raise his credit lines or get access to investment accounts. He described in graphic and grisly detail the violent assaults inflicted by his captors, who came and went from the room where the two men were being held. I didnt want to die and give in to these people, he stated to the media. It is surrounded by Pinellas County enclaves in all directions. University President Joel Seligman issued a statement Monday saying: 'I will, at an appropriate time in the near future, be able to provide more detail about this very serious, but isolated, incident. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. We may earn a commission from links on this page. Nicholas is beaten with a hedge-trimmer, a bat, a pipe, then hit over the head again, this time with a fluorescent bulb. The video they shot is graphic. By This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The two friends were the victims of a case of mistaken identity. "Nico had a pretty good sum of money. They were instead. Smith, a star athlete and well-known drug dealer, found a spare key to Ani and his twin brother's apartment. "My leg was like gel. "This is a once-in-a-career rescue. The Chicago Tribune revisits how the classical pianist and athlete from the Chicago suburb of Northbrook was kidnapped on the night of Dec. 4, 2015, along with fellow student Ani Okeke Ewo, after . The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". Crime Watch Daily reached out to Ani Okeke Ewo for comment, but he never responded. In one video he actually pulls up still wearing a mask that he was wearing during the other cellphone video.". That robbery led a group of drug dealers to abduct two other UR football players, Nicholas Kollias and Ani Okeke Ewo, in a case of mistaken identity. Privacy Policy | If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. He also filed a $10 million lawsuit against those convicted in the abduction. 9,99 /mes despus de 30 das. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. "I knew that it was going to be high-profile and it affected a lot of people in this community personally, so I really wanted to make sure that my best people were on it," said Doorley. But this Friday night out would be like no other. According to the Tribune, the jury was also showna video, shot on a phone by one of the kidnappers, of men in masks with chainsaws, beating and demeaning the victims. The New York Daily Newsreports Kollias has since graduated and moved back to the Chicago area, where he still undergoes physical therapy twice a week and works in financial services. "In reality they were saving my life. In the last half of the 18th century, migrants from the Creek towns of southern Georgia moved into northern Florida, the former territory of the Apalachee and Timucua. Julie Herrod When Was She Born, Career, Wheres She Today? Dr. Nikolaos Koutsonikolis, MD, is a specialist in anesthesiology who treats patients in Ocala, FL. Her name is Samantha Hughes. What the bad guys didn't know is you can't access those funds on the weekend, so they were waiting until 8 o'clock in the morning when they could actually access those accounts, and I'm sure once they did that they probably would have killed them.". Second person pleads guilty in UR kidnapping case. Ani Okeke Ewo was abducted along with Nicholas Kollias back in 2015 and tortured in a drug-related revenge attack. "I'm not going to close my eyes. According to Kollias, the lights went off and a group of men rushed into the dark room and 40-hours of hell began. Crime Watch Daily contacted the University of Rochester. Ashley Collman For Dailymail.com The night ahead was looking good. Outside, a SWAT team sets explosive charges on two doors and breaches them. It is not clear why they were targeted. Seminole Wars, (1817-18, 1835-42, 1855-58), three conflicts between the United States and the Seminole Indians of Florida in the period before the American Civil War that ultimately resulted in the opening of the Seminole's desirable land for white exploitation and settlement. Disfruta de ms de 90.000 audiolibros y podcasts originales durante tu mes de prueba. "They were extremely organized," said Nicholas. "My femur was completely broken in half," he said. ROCHESTER Six people were arraigned Tuesday in the kidnapping of two college students who investigators said were forcibly restrained for more than 40 hours and repeatedly beaten until a Senior year, and fall semester at the University of Rochester is in full swing. According to a police statement, the young men from Illinois had been forcibly abducted and held at gunpoint, during which they were robbed and beaten with fists, clubs and other objects. In December 2015, Nicholas Kollias and fellow senior Ani Okeke Ewo, both University of Rochester football players, were kidnapped near the New York campus. Sign up to receive breaking True Crime Daily news, exclusive stories and behind-the-scenes info. "At that point I got up, trying to run for the exit,"Nicholas Kollias, now 22, testified Thursday about the attack that precipitated the hours of torture he and classmate,AniOkekeEwo, were subjected to over a December 2015 weekend. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Kollias suffered a gunshot wound to the leg during the 40 hours he was . This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Police say they. Police said. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Im not going to close my eyes. They make their way through the kitchen. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Lydell Strickland, 26, was sentenced to155 years in prison for planning the attack as well as charges ofrobbery, assault and sex abuse. Forty hours later, one of the captors decided to let them go when a SWAT team entered the house freeing the pair. 2023 www.democratandchronicle.com. Authorities have said that UR seniors Ani Okeke Ewo and Nicholas Kollias were held and terrorized for 40 hours before being rescued by a Rochester police SWAT team. Friends and family contact the University of Rochester Department of Public Safety, which alerts Rochester Police. Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley says this case was like no other and deserved special attention. "At that point I got up, trying to run for the exit," Nicholas Kollias, now 22, testified Thursday about the attack that precipitated the hours of torture he and classmate, Ani Okeke Ewo, were . According to a 2015 roster posted on the university's website, Ewo is a cornerback for the football team, while Kollias was listed as a defensive end on the 2014 roster. Authorities have said that UR seniorsAni Okeke Ewo and Nicholas Kolliaswereheld and terrorized for 40 hours before beingrescued by a Rochester police SWAT team. "He was like trying to untie us real fast.". Six people have been charged in the abduction of two University of Rochester students, PEOPLE confirms. University of Rochester Public Safety officers and Rochester Police know the clock is ticking. They were instead held against their will, beaten, shot and sexually assaulted over the course of 40 hours. However, sources told the Fairport-East Rochester Postthat the victims got into a dispute between someone they know and the suspects. "And I remember looking out the door and seeing these two other girls that were standing on the outside and they were holding the door closed from the outside, just making sure we couldn't escape," said Nicholas. ', The university spokesman issued a separate statement, saying: 'The University of Rochester is grateful to the Rochester Police Department for the sustained efforts that led to the swift arrests and charges in the abduction of our two students. Nicholas says there's more to the story, and he's holding the University of Rochester responsible. Im not going to close my eyes. "There was nothing I could do, and then I just remember getting hit over the head with a bat and I'm laying on the ground and these men are just screaming, just 'Don't fight us, just take it and don't try and escape,'" said Nicholas. Kollias went into detail about the assault to one media outlet and stated that he thought it would be the end of his life, but he was going to go out fighting. The pair went to a house that reeked of urine and sat on a sofa. He says although the nightmare he survived will never leave him, he's working hard to not let it define him. But once inside, that all changed. "As they go through the door, they look in there and sure enough, there's the two football players sitting on the floor," said Peters. Read more at the Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune. Strickland faces the most serious charges, including kidnapping and gang assault. The two were dragged into a bathroom and tortured for hours. A few days before the pair was kidnapped, a drug deal went bad near the apartment that one of them rented. Rochester Police said a SWAT team rescued the two students at approx at 9:20 p.m. Sunday. As the investigation begins, cops find a stomach-churning video on one of the violent kidnapper's cellphones. He also filed a $10 million lawsuit against those convicted in the abduction. Now in the bedroom with Ani, surviving is what Nicholas is desperately trying to do. 9,99/mes despus de 30 das. Getting it right the first time could be the difference between life and death. He says during their 40-hour ordeal, he received more of the abuse than Ani did, and he thinks he knows why. "I didn't think I was going to make it until (that) Monday," Kollias, 23, told theChicago TribuneTuesday. Dec. 7, 2015 "There was always someone, at least one or two individuals that were kind of watching over us," said Nicholas. Nicholas Kollias and Ani Okeke Ewo, both University of Rochester football players from Illinois, were lured to a home for what they thought was a Saturday night house party. One had been shot in the leg ahead of the rescue. Would love your thoughts, please comment. Nicholas Kollias and Ani Okeke Ewo were last seen around 2 a.m. Saturday near the school. David Alcaraz-Ubiles, one of his co-defendants, was found guilty of kidnapping and weapons charges and sentenced to 15 years in prison, which he will serve after completing a separate 15-year sentence for an unrelated crime. By clicking submit, you agree to receive emails from Rolling Out and accept our web terms of use and privacy and cookie policy. "I started to notice that the neighborhood was not so good anymore," said Nicholas. Despite his reservations about going off campus to a high-crime area, Kollias decided to tag along and got into a car with the women and Ewo. Turns out Nicholas had been shot twice, once in each leg. "It's clearly his face. "They put flammable liquids on us, saying they were going to light us on fire," he said. "Two different girls.". After more than 40 hours of sheer hell, Nicholas and Ani are reunited with their families. Growing up in an upscale suburb of Chicago, Nicholas Kollias was the all-American high school kid. "They were just spraying bullets everywhere and they were putting the gun down our throat and putting the gun to our body and just moving it at the last seconds," said Nicholas. But is all this really just about money? "They had nicknames. He tried to sprint to a door, and was shot in the leg. Nicholas Kollias and Ani Okeke Ewo, both seniors at the school, were reported missing on Saturday evening under "suspicious circumstances," police said. Seminole is located at 2750?19?N 8247?6?W / 27.83861N 82.785W / 27.83861; -82.785 (27.838502, -82.784913). Also the fact that they had been out of contact with everybody else.". She had to go to work, so she said 'Can I meet up with you tomorrow and we can finish this,'" said Deputy Chief Scott Peters. "And I was holding Ani's hand and I just knew that like one of these bullets were going to hit me and I was going to die.". But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Nicholas Kollias has filed a $10 million lawsuit against the nine kidnappers. But there was one key piece of evidence the jurors would see. When the woman invited him to a party, Ewo asked if he could bring along Kollias. "They put me into the shower where they started washing me, and the entire tub is just red," said Nicholas. "Our kidnapped students appear to be the innocent victims of a horrendous crime," Seligman said. Nicholas Kollias and Ani Okeke Ewo, both seniors at the university, were reported missing on Saturday evening under "suspicious circumstances." They were eventually located at a residence. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Rochester police say a SWAT team rescued the two University of Rochester students around 9:20 p.m. Sunday. "They didn't want to go in my apartment and they suggested that we go over to their place," said Nicholas. "I'm not going to give up without a fight," he recalled thinking. Seminole, North American Indian tribe of Creek origin who speak a Muskogean language. There, they. Of the nefarious nine suspects, five end up taking plea deals, including Samantha Hughes and Leah Gigliotti, the women who lured Nicholas and Ani to the house that night. Alcaraz-Ubilies is accused of kidnapping, assault and criminal possession of a weapon. "I only made it about halfway across the room before I felt something like being pressed up to the side of my upper leg, and then the next thing I remember is just being on the ground.". Cops still aren't certain they're in the hostage house. Upon entry, the SWAT team sees two individuals. They were instead held against their will, beaten, shot and sexually assaulted over the course of 40 hours. The girls must have liked what they saw. Kollias testified that he concluded his abductors were planning to keep him alive only until the banks opened on Monday morning and they could finish draining his accounts. Rochester Police launch a full investigation, getting search warrants for the boys' phones and Facebook accounts. Nicholas is now trying to move on with his life. "Then before I knew it we showed up at the house.". The students jump in the girls' car and off they go. (Rochester Police. "I said 'Here's the two locations, plan cold hits on both houses, you're gonna do one and then we're gonna have to do the second one if the first house wasn't right.'". Samantha Hughes: Two counts of first-degree gang assault. Lydell Strickland: Two counts of first-degree gang assault, six counts of first-degree robbery, twocounts of second-degree robbery, nine counts of first-degree predatory sexual assault, first-degree criminal use of a firearm and multiple counts of third- and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. TIME AND LOCATION: Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Disfruta de Audible en tu smartphone, tablet, ordenador o Amazon Echo. Kollias and Ewo were taken to a nearby hospital, where they are recovering from non-life-threatening injuries. The remaining two, Inalia Rolldan and Ruth Lora, were each given seven-year sentences after being convicted on kidnapping and weapons charges. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". University police sent out a statewide alert over the weekend that seniors Ani Okeke Ewo, of Aurora, and Nicholas Kollias, of Northbrook, had been missing since 2 a.m. Saturday. Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. Not long after Nicholas and Ani meet them in the parking lot of Nicholas's apartment. University of Rochester students Ani Okeke Ewo, left, and Nicholas Kollias are seen in undated photos distributed by authorities after their 2015 abduction. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. The six charged have not yet entered pleas. He may have made it there, but he wasn't home free. Lydell Strickland, 26, Dennis Perez, 23, and Leah Gigliotti, 20, all of Rochester, and Samantha Hughes, 19, of Pittsford, are charged with first-degree kidnapping, while Inalia Rolldan, 19, and Ruth Lora, 19, both of Rochester, face charges of second-degree kidnapping, a Rochester Police spokeswoman tells PEOPLE. After pulling Isaac Smith (Ewos teammate who also deals with drugs) and the two ladies for interrogation, the ladies were cracked and they gave up the real address where the two players were being held. On December 4, 2015, Ani and Kollias were hanging out with their friends from the football team, when they were approached by a lady Samantha Hughes, who tried to friend the two players on Facebook earlier in the week. Matthew Schwartz, one of the lead prosecutors in the case, marveled that the students were able to survive. Cops say Isaiah Smith then used that apartment to rob Lydell Strickland and his gang of thugs. The second thing was both gentleman were prolific on social media, always updating what they were doing, where they were, and that it stopped cold Friday night. Inalia Rolldan and Ruth Lora, the woman who lured Kollias and Ewo into the trap, were each sentenced to seven years in prison after being convicted of kidnapping and weapons charges. Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story Is Our TV Pick Of The Week, Small Town Horror Story: The Racist Attack Of A FedEx Worker. A SWAT team rescuedKollias and Ewo that Sunday night from a home some four miles from the Rochester college campus. Smith was also charged and was given a 13-year sentence for the robbery that triggered the later events while the two ladies who were used as bait were given over 12 years each for their part in luring the men to the house. He was scared, but throughout the whole ordeal he kind of had this like optimistic view, 'They're going to release us,' but it was hard for me to kind of see that light. At trial, Ani Okeke Ewo and Nicholas "Niko" Kollias testified about how they were duped to go to a city home by two young women who claimed they wanted to party with them. And just when they thought their time was up, a miracle occurred. It's Friday night, Dec. 4, 2015. There was just that much," said Monroe County Assistant District Attorney Matthew Schwartz. "Even a university as generally safe as ours can be subject to these type of terrible events," Seligman said, calling the matter "an isolated and unusual set of circumstances,""I urge everyone in our community to be smart about the choices that you make, and to be diligent about your safety and the safety of those around you.
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