A truly weird kidnapping case involving an NYPD detective, credit card counterfeiting paraphernalia and alleged criminals who clearly don't watch crime TV shows unraveled in Queens this weekend.
On Friday Brian Karikari, 25, was snatched off the street in front of his Cambria Heights home. According to police Jason Hutson, 27, pulled a gun on him and forced him into an SUV. From there he was taken to a garage in Queens and bound with zip ties and rope while the kidnappers tried to extort $75,000 from his friends. But instead of paying, Karikari's buddies reported the demands to police, who were quickly able to track the calls back to a home in Springfield Gardens—a home that just happened to be owned by Detective Ondre Johnson, a 17-year veteran of the NYPD currently assigned to the Brooklyn North gang-investigation unit. Whoops! Don't people know phones are easily traceable?
When cops arrived at the home they found Karkikari tied up in the building's detached garage with a towel over his head. Inside the actual home they found Johnson, along with two suspects inside—as well as credit card making equipment in the basement.
Still, charges have not been filed against Johnson—though he has been suspended without pay while internal affairs looks into the case—as Johnson's roommate/relative, 30-year-old Hakeem Clark claims that the detective knew nothing about the kidnapping, a claim which Internal Affairs appears to believe (for now). And for what it is worth, Johnson's friends seem to agree: "He would never do nothing like that," one told the News. "He just does his job. He doesn’t even have a girlfriend."
In the meantime, Clark and Hutson have been charged with kidnapping and forgery. Two other men, Alfredo Haughton, 24, and James Gayle, 27, were also arrested in regards to the kidnapping but prosecutors have decided not to charge them at this time, authorities say. The NYPD says the investigation is ongoing.
