Three kidnap victims are robbed and forced to use drugs during KC ordeal

Gunmen kidnapped three women in Kansas City this weekend, robbed them and forced them to use drugs. One victim reported being sexually assaulted.

The kidnappers grabbed two of the women at an ATM in Kansas City during the crimes, which began early Saturday morning.

So far, federal prosecutors have charged Jamerl M. Wortham, 30, of Kansas City, Kan. He faces charges of carjacking, kidnapping and using an illegal sawed-off shotgun.

According to court documents, two of the victims were accosted at gunpoint at an ATM in the 100 block of East Missouri Avenue. Their abductors robbed them and forced them into their own Toyota Camry before driving them to an apartment in Kansas City, Kan.

There the gunmen allegedly met up with Wortham, who had a third victim with him.

That victim later told police she had been taken from outside a bar in Westport after she had gotten into a Jaguar she mistakenly thought was the Uber ride she had requested. Wortham allegedly drove the Jaguar.

The abductors took all three victims to another ATM and forced them to withdraw money. While being driven around, the victims were forced to smoke PCP, according to the allegations.

A short time later, a Kansas City, Kan., police officer attempted to pull over the Jaguar for a traffic offense. The car sped away but crashed. Police arrested Wortham and found one woman with him and a sawed-off shotgun in the car. The Jaguar had been reported as stolen.

After Wortham’s arrest, the other kidnappers drove the two other victims to Blue Springs so the kidnappers could purchase drugs. After being driven back to Kansas City, one of the victims jumped out and escaped.

The third victim later told police that one kidnapper sexually assaulted her before she escaped.

She told police she was left alone with one kidnapper after dropping off the other man at a Kansas City, Kan., gas station.

The woman said that as she drove away with the kidnapper in the passenger seat, she slammed on the brakes, causing him to hit his face on the dashboard. She tried to push him out of the car while using her knee to sound the car’s horn.

The kidnapper grabbed her hair when she tried to run, but she pulled away. She ran several blocks before flagging down another driver.

When questioned by police, Wortham said he only met the two other kidnappers that night and only knew their first names.

He said they stole the Jaguar from a Kansas City, Kan., gas station, then drove to central Kansas City, where they staked out an ATM looking for someone to rob.

When nobody showed up, he said, they drove to the ATM on Missouri Avenue and waited until they saw two women arrive in the Camry.

Wortham said the two other men robbed those victims and forced them into the Camry. He drove the Jaguar and followed them to the apartment in Kansas City, Kan.

This story was originally published April 12, 2016 at 8:33 AM with the headline "Three kidnap victims are robbed and forced to use drugs during KC ordeal."