Albany man faces kidnapping charges; tenants were bound with zip ties, tape and pillowcases over heads
Shawn Douglas allegedly loaded the pair into his Dodge Durango and allegedly initially took them to what they told police was a motel in Colonie. From there, police said he drove them to the isolated cemetery in Ghent, a rural town in Columbia County that's about 35 miles southeast of Albany.
ALBANY — An Albany landlord has been charged with kidnapping after allegedly tying up two of his tenants with zip ties and tape, placing pillowcases over their heads and driving them at gunpoint to a rural cemetery in Columbia County where he dumped them in the snow on Sunday, according to law enforcement sources and police records.
The landlord, 48-year-old Shawn Douglas, allegedly was armed with a firearm throughout the incident and had help from two other suspects, according to police records. No other arrests have been reported. The alleged kidnapping unfolded between and 1 and 8 a.m. on Sunday.
One of the victims, a 21-year-old woman, was able to undo the ties that she had been bound with and walked to a residence near the cemetery to get help.
Douglas had apparently been frustrated because he had been unable to evict the tenants due to COVID-19 restrictions, law enforcement sources said. The tenants were both sleeping at the time he is accused of tying them up. The 32-year-old male tenant was allegedly punched and kicked before being tied up.
Douglas loaded the pair into his Dodge Durango and, with two others, allegedly drove the man and woman to what they told police had appeared to be a motel in Colonie. From there, they were driven to the isolated cemetery in Ghent, a rural town in Columbia County that's about 35 miles southeast of Albany.
By allegedly leaving the pair tied up and abandoning them in the wintry conditions, Douglas "did expose the victims to a risk of serious physical injury."
Douglas and the tenants live at a residence on Grandview Terrace in the city's South End. Douglas, who was arrested Monday afternoon, was arraigned on charges of second-degree kidnapping and was being held at Albany County jail Tuesday afternoon on $50,000 bond.