A Beaver County woman escaped a kidnapping earlier this week by jumping out of a car stopped at a red light in Pittsburgh, police said.
The couple accused of abducting her has been arrested and jailed.
Tyrone Turner, 41, and his girlfriend, Ariel Harper, 34, both of Aliquippa, drove a black Nissan sedan to the woman’s home around 11:45 a.m. Monday, according to a criminal complaint. The rental car bore New Jersey license plates.
The woman later told police she knows Harper through work. Police did not elaborate.
The couple accused the woman of stealing money from them, which she denied, the complaint said.
Police said Turner then pulled a handgun from his waistband and pointed it at the woman, according to the complaint. He told her to get in the car, the complaint said.
Turner told the woman they were driving to Beaver to open a bank account in her name, the complaint said. He later changed his mind and drove toward Pittsburgh, police said.
“We are going to meet my people and I am going to pay them to kill you,” Turner said, according to the complaint.
Once in the city, police said Turner stopped the car at a red light. The woman jumped out of the sedan, leaving behind two cell phones, a card for food stamps, her driver’s license and her house keys.
The complaint lists the location where the car stopped as the police bureau’s Zone 3, which stretches south of the Monongahela River and includes the South Side, Allentown, Mt. Washington, Duquesne Heights and Carrick.
It is unclear how or where the woman found a police officer. An officer drove her to the Aliquippa police station around 3 p.m. Monday, the complaint said.
The woman’s cellphone carrier traced her phone to a Linmar Terrace home, where Turner and Harper live, the complaint said.
Police arrested them there without incident.
Officers later found a handgun inside the house, as well as the personal belongings the woman had left in the rental car, the complaint said.
The woman did not return phone calls Wednesday seeking comment.
Aliquippa police charged Turner with kidnapping, robbery, simple assault, making terroristic threats and a firearm count. Police charged Harper with four conspiracy counts, including conspiracy to commit a kidnapping.
The couple was arraigned Tuesday and taken to the Beaver County Jail, court records show.
Turner’s bail was set at $350,000 and Harper’s at $250,000. Both were unable to pay.
Attorneys for the defendants were not listed Wednesday in court records.
