Two men allegedly kidnapped and threatened to slit throat of woman in Jackson County
Two men face felony charges in Jackson County related to the kidnapping of a woman who said she was bound with duct tape and assaulted as they questioned whether she was “a snitch,” according to court records.
Jevn T. Griffitt, 25, of Oak Grove, is charged with one count of kidnapping and inflicting injury on a person, Jackson County court records show. His alleged accomplice, Eric A. Green, 36, of Raytown, is charged with one count of kidnapping and one count of tampering with a motor vehicle.
Neither is charged with a sex crime.
According to court records, Oak Grove police began investigating the incident after they were contacted by the alleged victim on Jan. 4.
The woman told investigators she had visited the home of Griffitt the night before to purchase drugs. She said she was instructed to come alone and dropped off a friend nearby.
Inside the house the woman said she walked upstairs when a man came up from behind her and started to wrap her head with duct tape. She said both men tied her hands and legs and placed her against a bed in the upstairs bedroom.
The woman told police the men, armed with knives, went to her car and took her belongings, including a debit card, her ID and her cellphone.
Griffitt allegedly took pictures of the woman’s ID. She told police it appeared they were sending the photograph to someone else because they were attempting to confirm that she “was not the snitch,” a detective wrote in a probable cause statement.
The woman told police the men kept saying things to the effect of “we do not want to do this,” but that it would either be them or her whose throat “was going to be slit.”
During the encounter, the woman reported that she was raped by one of the men while she was still restrained. She said she was untied after one checked his phone and confirmed that she was not “the snitch” being sought, court records show.
Afterward, the men allegedly told her they needed to go for a drive and she was able to convince them to let her be the driver. As they were outside of the house she began honking the horn to alert the friend she had dropped off earlier, she told police.
Inside the car there was a struggle where the woman was cut on the leg by one of the men, she alleged. They fled the area as her friend was approaching the car, she told police.
The woman was taken to a hospital for a sexual assault exam. Officers reported seeing injuries on her hands and legs, and what appeared to be duct tape adhesive on her sweater. She also had a small cut on her leg and marking on her mouth that looked like it may have come from duct tape, the officers noted.
During a search warrant of the residence on Jan. 5, police found duct tape inside a kitchen trash bag and long, dark-colored hair believed to be the woman’s.
Jackson County jail records show Green is being held on $30,000 cash-only bond. There is an active warrant for Griffitt as he failed to appear for a court hearing last month.
