Photo: New Jersey State Police
After being held against her will for nearly a year, a woman managed to escape from her captor. The New Jersey State Police said that the woman, who was not identified, ran into the convenience store of a gas station in Burlington County and locked the door behind her.
She told the cashier that she had been kidnapped and begged for help. A man, later identified as James W. Parrillo Jr., tried to open the door but left after he realized it was locked.
He was taken custody later that day.
The woman told police that she met Parrillo at a gas station in New Mexico in February 2022. She said that he identified himself as Brett Parker. She agreed to give him a ride to Arizona, and they developed a consensual relationship that lasted for about a month when Parrillo assaulted her while they were in California.
She said that Parrillo took her phone and debit cards and isolated her from her family. He refused to let her leave as they traveled across the country before arriving at a house in New Jersey in December.
The woman told detectives that she started planning her escape when she saw a deadbolt on the door of the gas station. She said that she fled from the home and ran barefoot through the street after he choked and assaulted her.
Parrillo was charged with first-degree kidnapping, second-degree strangulation and aggravated assault, and third-degree criminal restraint. He is being held in jail pending his trial.
"This is a deeply disturbing case in which the defendant allegedly held a woman against her will for nearly a year while traveling with her throughout the country before ending up here in New Jersey, where she was able to escape," New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement. "We are reaching out to law enforcement across jurisdictions to identify other people who may have additional information on the defendant. Our investigation is ongoing, and we are committed to doing everything we can to ensure we bring justice to this survivor."