Troopers made a surprise discovery in a U-Haul truck that crashed into a ditch after a chase: an abduction victim. She recounted her terrifying ordeal to police. News4’s Darcy Spencer reports.
When Maryland state troopers broke into the cab of a U-Haul truck that ran into a ditch following a pursuit late Friday they discovered a woman, naked and bleeding from stab wounds. Authorities would quickly learn that she was the victim of an abduction from earlier that day in Washington, D.C.
The victim was threatened and pushed into the U-Haul by 62-year-old Dennis Bell, of Lanham, Maryland, outside a convenience store along Minnesota Avenue in Southeast D.C., Maryland State Police said Saturday.
Bell forced her to sit on the truck's floor and used a knife to cut off her clothes before stabbing her in the fingers, police said. He drove around all day with the victim sitting there until around 9:45 p.m. Friday when police got several 911 calls about a U-Haul truck driving erratically.
Witnesses said the truck struck multiple parked cars around Princess Garden Parkway in Lanham. State troopers responded and tried to stop the truck along Route 450.
We've got the news you need to know to start your day. Sign up for the First & 4Most morning newsletter — delivered to your inbox daily. >Sign up here.
Bell refused to stop and troopers started a pursuit. It ended at Baltimore Lane and Elm Street when the rental truck veered into the ditch.
In security camera footage from a nearby home obtained by News4, the truck's tires can be heard spinning in the mud as police shout "Stop the car".
Troopers said Bell failed to get out of the truck so they broke into the passenger side window. That's when they found the woman. She was wrapped in a police jacket and taken to the hospital by ambulance, police said.
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
Bell, who refused to identify himself at the scene, was placed under arrest and also taken to the hospital. He is now in custody at the Upper Marlboro Department of Corrections.
Bell faces 19 traffic charges and 14 criminal charges including first degree assault, kidnapping, false imprisonment, fourth degree sex offense, possession of suspected crack cocaine and driving while impaired.
